Comments on: Methane Contamination of Water in Susquehanna County PA

By: Liz R.

Liz R. — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 13:25:04 +0000

Lighting methane contaminated water on fire is not new to Pennsylvania, but what was once a local curiosity has become a serious problem. Thanks to the Duke University scientists, we now know that instances of methane migration after drilling and fracking begins are about 17% more likely. Drillers and the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) have disregarded Duke’s findings, citing insufficient data, though it seems noteworthy that some of the wells tested were private wells that had been in use for years without excessive methane. It also stands to reason, had the local water table always been rife with methane, these towns would not have been settled in the first place.

Particularly worrisome are the downstream impacts of methane contamination. While the human health effects of elevated methane levels in drinking water are not known, we do know that chlorinating methane-contaminated water results in carcinogenic disinfection byproducts such as chloroform.

By: Dee Fulton

Dee Fulton — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 21:36:01 +0000

Semantics, Mr Blakeslee. The gas industry and it’s supporters choose to narrowly define the term ‘fracking’ to the stage of natural gas production between drilling and completion when fracking water is forced at high pressures into the shale to create the fractures which allow the gas to escape. For years the industry has relied upon that very narrow definition to state unequivocally that “there have been no cases of water contamination due to fracking” even though they were well aware of the Pavilion, Wyoming contamination cases and the Dimock, PA cases. This allowed for misrepresentation of the truth by virtue of semantics.
However, media use of the term fracking and the general public have popularly expanded the definition of fracking to include the entire process including drilling, hydraulic fracturing, completion, flaring, and even to earthquakes. Thus you may see references to fracking-induced earthquakes even though the earthquakes are attributable to the
disposal of frack waste fluids in deep injection wells. Granted, this generalization of the term ‘fracking’ can be annoying to those such as yourself who have a thorough understanding of the process. But unless it’s scientific literature, when you read the term ‘fracking’, it can now commonly be assumed to refer to the entire process, inclusive of the function of well casings.

By: RD Blakeslee

RD Blakeslee — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 18:01:55 +0000

From the report above:

“On January 9 the Scranton Times-Tribune reported that the water wells serving 3 homes in Lenox Township, Susquehanna County were contaminated with methane related to fracking.”

I have read the Scranton Times-Tribune article.

Neither the newspaper article or the underlying Pennsylvania DEP violation notice implicated fracking. To the contrary, faulty well bore casing construction was alleged, a deficiency having NOTHING TO DO with fracking.

“FRACKING” (shudder). Ring the alarm bells!