State must fend for itself against fracking hazards

Letter to Editor, Morgantown Dominion Post, March 21, 2016

Studies and investigative reports indicate that horizontal hydro-fracking poses serious and unavoidable threats to our health and environment. Due largely to these findings, the process is now prohibited in New York state, Maryland, Vermont, parts of Canada and 10 nations.

One report, by Physicians for Social Responsibility and Concerned Scientists, states that the underground effects are uncontrollable because of the randomness of subterranean landscapes.

There, increased drilling can result in “pressure bulbs” that break up confined aquifers and cause earthquakes. Like lead paint, DDT and asbestos, it said, horizontal hydrofracking is too destructive to use.

The most damaging result of horizontal hydrofracking, reportedly, is air pollution; from waste pits, condensate tanks, leaks, spills, diesel engines and compressor stations.
Combined with hundreds of chemicals, heavy metals and high radioactivity in the liquid and solid frack wastes, a poisonous overload is produced known to cause health problems.

In West Virginia, state and federal laws compound the threat. Treated as hazardous in any other industry, oil and gas waste has been exempted there. No laws in West Virginia require safe handling of these extremely toxic pollutants.

The EPA’s national inventory on potentially frack-contaminated drinking water study excluded Class II injection wells, moreover. These wells are extensively used in West Virginia for disposal of out-of-state frack waste and are the most likely to pollute aquifers.

Meanwhile, although the same Marcellus shale underlies West Virginia, groups of physicians and scientists have called on President Obama, the surgeon general and the governors of Pennsylvania and Maryland to create a permanent ban on horizontal hydro-fracking in those states.

So must West Virginia become a sacrifice zone where citizens must protect themselves?

Doing just that, Fayette County last year closed the oil and gas loophole by declaring such waste hazardous, then banning it within county jurisdiction. Although one industry giant has blocked its enforcement by attempting to overturn the ordinance in court, the ban should rightfully survive litigation.

Barbara Daniels, Richwood, WV

Fracking Activities Cause Eastern Ohio Earthquakes

Fracking Confirmed as Cause of Ohio Earthquake

From an Article by Cole Mellino, EcoWatch.com, January 6, 2015

Ohio is now on a similar trajectory to Oklahoma, which saw a five-fold increase in earthquakes in 2014. A new study published in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America has confirmed that a fracking operation near Poland Township in Ohio activated a previously unknown fault in the Earth, causing 77 earthquakes with magnitudes ranging from 1.0 to 3.0 between March 4 and March 12 in 2014. The drilling company, Hilcorp Energy, was forced to halt operations by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources on March 10 after nearby residents felt the 3.0-magnitude earthquake.

A new study published in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America has confirmed that a fracking operation near Poland Township in Ohio activated a previously unknown fault in the Earth.

Robert Skoumal, who co-authored the study with Michael Brudzinski and Brian Currie at Miami University of Ohio, compared these earthquakes to well stimulation reports and found the earthquakes “coincided temporally and spatially with hydraulic fracturing at specific stages of the stimulation. The seismic activity outlined a roughly vertical, east-west oriented fault within one kilometer of the well.” Fracking at other nearby wells did not produce seismic activity, which suggests that the fault is limited in its scope.

But, if Oklahoma’s major increase in earthquakes tells us anything, it’s that it could get worse for Ohio if fracking increases. From 1975 to 2008, Oklahoma averaged one to three earthquakes of magnitude 3 or greater a year. In 2009, that number jumped to 20. In 2011, the Sooner state experienced its largest recorded quake with a magnitude of 5.7. In 2014, there were 564 quakes with a magnitude of 3 or greater, compared to only 100 in 2013. And 19 of those earthquakes were magnitude 4 or greater, the strength at which experts say significant damage can occur.

In May 2014, the Oklahoma Geological Survey and the U.S. Geological Survey reported that “the spike in the number of earthquakes meant it was much more likely that the state could suffer a damaging earthquake of magnitude 5.5 or greater.” They also reported that fracking was “likely a contributing factor.” The researchers believe Oklahoma’s activity is spreading north into Kansas, which had only two earthquakes in 2013 but 42 in 2014. Most of those quakes were near the border with Oklahoma.

Skoumal also points out, “We just don’t know where all the faults are located.” That puts us at risk of activating more previously unknown faults and increasing the risk of damaging earthquakes. Governor Andrew Cuomo banned fracking in New York in December, citing earthquakes as one of the reasons along with concerns of contamination of drinking water and climate change.

See also:

Earthquakes + Massive Water Consumption = Consequences of Fracking

ECA Injection Well Proposed on Deckers Creek in Preston County

Letter from the FRIENDS OF DECKERS CREEK, August 2, 2013

Dear Friends and Partners:

We are writing to inform you of Friends of Deckers Creek’s opposition to a proposed Class II wastewater injection well being planned by the Energy Corporation of America (ECA) in the Deckers Creek watershed. The proposed well will be located less than one mile northwest of Masontown, between Sand Bank Road and Deckers Creek (Well#: Cascade 474, API#: 077-00170, Lat: 39.559727, Long: -79.810163).

The proposed well appears to be about 500 feet from Deckers Creek and just northwest of the Masontown rail trail parking area, also located on Sand Bank Road. We have the exact location since ECA plans to “repurpose” an existing conventional gas well as a Class II underground wastewater injection well. The Class II well would be used for the injection of wastewater from regional wells that have been horizontally drilled and hydraulically fractured. You can insert the latitude and longitude provided above into a Google map locator to find the exact location of the proposed well.

The attached letter details our basis for opposing this well. Please read the letter carefully. We feel it is important that all stakeholders understand our concerns. We plan numerous events to help inform the public and rally opposition to the proposed well. We will keep you informed of these events and activities and hope you can join us. We plan a public discussion and overview of the ECA well plans as part of the next FODC outreach meeting scheduled for Thursday, August 22, 2013, at WVU’s Agricultural Science Building (Room 1001) from 6:30p to 9:00p.

The outreach meeting also will include a screening of the critically-acclaimed film Green Fire about renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold. If you have any questions, concerns and/or know of ways that we can better address this situation, please let us know.

Sincerely, Elizabeth Wiles, Executive Director, Friends of Deckers Creek, PO Box 877, Dellslow, WV 26531