Still, we occasionally get a relatively simple case, even if its broader implications are minimal. And the practice has been scrutinized at a level we haven’t subjected conventional oil and gas production to, meaning we might be discovering problems that are common to other techniques. Regulations governing fracking vary from state to state, too. Geology differs from place to place in important ways that have to be taken into consideration when analyzing water. Lots of information and claims fly around, but there's little in the way of an established framework to help make sense of them.Ĭlaims that fracking has contaminated water can be difficult to resolve, and some turn out to be unrelated to fracking. He said seven well sites were affected by the suspension.Public arguments about fracking (at least among those who have heard of the natural gas production technique) have become contentious-a situation not helped by the technical and complicated topic. Hydraulic fracturing is completely within that process,” company spokesman Rory Sweeney said. “We have put all well completion operations on hold. On Thursday, the company said the well was stable and fluid was flowing into containment vessels. Immediately after the blowout, the Chesapeake well spewed thousands of gallons of fracking fluid into a nearby creek, Bradford County emergency management officials said on Wednesday. Regulators are now considering whether to allow the technique in neighboring New York state. The accident comes at a sensitive time for energy drillers, just a year after an explosion that led to the massive BP oil spill. “This is the kind of incident that is likely to shine a spotlight, again, on the fact that despite repeated assurances from industry and regulators in Pennsylvania, things there keep somehow going wrong,” said Kate Sinding, senior attorney for the New York-based Natural Resources Defense Council. natural gas production, rising from a negligible amount in 2004.īut environmentalists and residents complain that fracking can pollute water supplies, raising calls for increased regulation on natural gas production. Shale gas now accounts 23 percent of U.S. President Barack Obama has made natural gas the cornerstone of his energy policy, in part thanks to the huge reserves unlocked by the use of fracking. reliance on foreign oil and cut carbon emissions. Proponents say extracting shale gas through fracking will slash U.S. The accident in northeastern Pennsylvania has stoked an already fierce debate in the United States over hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking” - a process to release gas trapped in shale formations by blasting a mix of water, sand and chemicals into the rock. The company said it still did not know the cause of the blowout a day and a half after it occurred. NEW YORK (Reuters) - Chesapeake Energy suspended the use of a controversial natural-gas production technique in Pennsylvania on Thursday as it worked to contain a well blowout that spilled toxic fluid into a local waterway.Ĭhesapeake, one of the state’s biggest shale gas producers, will use a mix of plastic, ground-up tires and heavy mud to plug the well - an operation that echoes BP’s “top kill” effort to seal its ruptured Gulf of Mexico oil well last year.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |