6,600 Fracking Spills in 4 States During a 10 Year Period

Fracking is claimed by many to be a process that doesn't negatively impact the environment. How is this the case when there are hydrocarbons, chemical-laden water, hydraulic fracturing fluids and other substances that spilled into the environment? Each year this happens to 2%-16% of hydraulically fractured oil and gas wells.

Still from a video uploaded on YouTube by user@Jacob haughney / YouTube

A study published Feb. 21st in the journal Environmental Science & Technology identified 6,648 spills throughout the four states Colorado, New Mexico, North Dakota and Pennsylvania between 2005 and 2014. The study looked at 31,481 wells, and helps to show the frequency, volume and cause of spells. Different states have different requirements for reporting skills, making it more difficult to collect data.

The state with the highest spill rate was North Dakota with 4,453 incidents, with Pennsylvania, Colorado and New Mexico at 1,293, 476 and 426 respectively.

Source: Credit: Science for Nature and People Partnership

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had previously calculated 457 spills for 8 states between 2006 and 2012. The reason this new study exceeded that number is because the EPA's analysis only looked at spells during the hydraulic fracturing stage, rather than the full cycle of fracking.

Of the over 6,600 spills identified in this recent study, 50% were due to storage and moving fluids through pipelines. The specific causes were not known in each case due to different state requirements to explicitly report the cause or describe it as a narrative. The first three years had the highest risk of a spill when drilling, fracturing and production volumes were highest. A significant amount of spills occurred at sites that already experienced one spill, as 26% of well spill in Colorado and 53% in North Dakota were recurring at the same sites.

Kate Konschnik, director of the Harvard Law School's Environmental Policy Initiative and lead author of the study, said:

"Analyses like this one are so important, to define and mitigate risk to water supplies and human health."

A few months ago I covered another study that identifed fracking as a factor in fault activation or earthquake generation. I also keep talking about how we are posioning our environment and ourselves with all the waste, toxins, pollutants, and bad chemicals we funnel into the earth, water and air.

We ignorantly believe claims about how "safe" anything we do is, from not understanding the long-term effects. Then it takes so long to change and stop doing harmful things even after it becomes obvious there is a problem. Why? Money. People are making money, so who cares if people have poisoned water or more negative effects on the environment are created. Just keep denying until it's proved in court. That's what the tobacco industry, big pharma, and chemical manufactures have done for decades.

Tell me, is your drinking water safe when you can light it up on fire?

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References:

• 6,600 spills from fracking in just four states
• Patterson, K. Konschnik, H. Wiseman, et. al. Unconventional Oil and Gas Spills: Risks, Mitigation Priorities and States Reporting Requirements. Environmental Science & Technology, 2017 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.05749

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2017-02-22, 12pm