Throughout the life of my blog, I have explored the future or potential problems caused by hydraulic fracturing and natural gas drilling. Now it’s time to show you some immediate problems:
These two photos showcase some of the immediate dangers of natural gas drilling and fracking. There are stories all over the internet of natural gas wells exploding, injuring, and killing people. The photograph to the top is in Texas, from a well going into the Barnett Shale; the photo on the left is another explosion in Pennsylvania. This article is about an explosion in Indiana that killed 2 people; the strangest thing I found in that article is that the company from Houston, Texas that came up to cap off the burning well was called, “Wild Well Control.” If an entire company can be based off contained “wild wells” I don’t think it is a good idea to have thousands of wells in people’s backyards; but maybe it’s just me. The fact that a team from Texas had to fly all the way to Indiana to stop the fire because no one else could also illustrates the lack of safety precautions set up around these wells. It is almost like the Deepwater Horizons oil spill; after the explosion it took far too long for someone to figure out how to stop the flaming gas from spewing out. These explosions are happening all over the nation: here in West Virginia, here is another from West Virginia, here is a huge explosion in Texas, many more. Not only explosions are happening due to gas drilling; there are thousands of incidents around the country that have occurred. “Accidents are not uncommon in unconventional natural gas mining. In Pennsylvania, 1,435 violations by Marcellus shale drilling/mining companies were documented in two and a half years between January 2008 and June 2010. In Colorado, the Denver Post reported over 5 million gallons of drilling liquid and oil spilled in almost 1,000 accidents over a similar time period. A Marcellus Shale gas well exploded June 3 in Clearfield County, Pa., spewing natural gas and toxic wastewater for 16 hours before it could be capped.”
Even if you don’t consider the potential long-term effects of natural gas drilling and fracking, it is easy to see the immediate danger that these practices pose to our environment and workers.
This was an eye opening post for me. I had no idea that the dangers of fracking were so high and also its devastating effects. It is unbelievable that a company exists that sole form of business is helping to fix "wild wells." One would think that the drilling company would know exactly how to fix any problems encountered during the fracking process. These companies that are fracking seem to be extremely irresponsible. What also bothers me is that the company had to fly to get to the malfunctioning well. Again one would think if the drilling company didn’t know how to deal with issues with the well, there would be a local company/business at the ready just in case such a problem occurred. Why in the world would you start the fracking process with the only form of assistance hundreds of miles away?! As an avid supporter of national parks and the beautiful scenery found in this great country I am outraged these companies are be so irresponsible. They are not only ruining the landscape but they are putting people's lives in danger. This post has made both the immediate and long term effects very clear and understandable. This was a very helpful post.
ReplyDeleteI have to start out by saying that I have never really thought about the dangers of fracking and oil drilling on land (obviously BP covered the ocean part). This post clearly showed how fracking can be highly dangerous. This isn't just a once in a lifetime occurrence, dangers are evident. After reading your post I'm thinking about just how bad it would be to have an accident on land near housing and business. The fact that there is no response team near just shows how little safety measures are in place to protect the residents and land of disaster. It's bad enough what happened to the gulf, but to think about that happening just down the road from your house is awful. Clearly if fracking is going to continue then government enforced safety measures should be taken. However, this will obviously not stop the danger. Society must look at a variety of issues when thinking about this topic. Obviously this is money driven and the environment is hardly considered both directly related to the land as well as the pollutants of oil in general. Looking at the images you have provided should be enough to stop this and look towards other sources of energy, like algae.
ReplyDeleteif you see this Evan, call me asap today at (607) 273-0327 regarding permission to use a photo
ReplyDeleteDr. Noren
US Senate candidate antifracking candidate