There have been many reports of ground water wells that have become toxic due to the oil and/or gas wells leaking waste water into the ground. Some of this water is from Hydraulic Fracturing better known as fracking. They pump the chemical water down in the hole, but they pump so much water into the hole that it fractures the shale rock. After they make the hole the size they want, they pump the chemical water back out of the ground and take the water that they now call toxic waste, then they inject the toxic waste deep into the ground where it stays there supposedly not bothering anyone. Then there is the water that is taken to a “Land Farm,” there they have big lined ponds where they pump all of this water, which is called produced water, into the lined ponds to let the water settle. After it has settled they spray the toxic waste water out onto the open ground to dispose of. Most of these “Land Farms” are in flood prone areas; several are beside fields that are food crops, some are used to graze cattle on. I have attached a video of some of the toxic waste trucks that are just letting it pour out onto the ground instead of containing the toxic waste. Also, I have included a video of a man who is talking about how they are suppose to be digging holes for the ash to be buried but instead they are just dropping them off or just barely digging to get rid of them. Then when there is a little water run over it it is exposed. This “ash” is where they have pumped out the toxic waste water and the “ash” is a lot of the chemicals condensed into a solid form.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Toxic Waters
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This article is really interesting considering what is going on in Greenbriar. I think the earthquakes have took our attentions away from the other harm that fracking can do. I also liked that you explain the process of fracking because I didn't know before. This post was very helpful.
ReplyDelete- elephant
Dear Kalea,
ReplyDeleteI found your post to be really interesting. I've never really heard about fracking, so this was informing.
Something that stood out to me was when you explain what fracking means. Knowing that they are putting chemical water down in the hole, and causing other problems such as the fracturing of the rock shows that they're over doing this without even knowing. They aren't putting any care into it.
When you talk about the produced water settling and spraying the toxic waste to dispose of it onto open grounds is wrong. Do they not realize that they are affecting the land itself and the use of the land for farmers?
Thank you for posting this. It has taught me what fracking is, and how it can cause damage in several ways. It will keep me coming back to learn more.
- Oryx
Dear Blogger,
ReplyDeleteThis blog post is great as it shows that this fracking is affecting in more than just the correlation with earthquakes. I also never truly knew what fracking was and how it worked...or that it involved toxic waste!
"...they inject the toxic waste deep into the ground where it stays there supposedly not bothering anyone." You would think that by now, companies would realize this is not the way they need to be getting rid of toxic waste. It does not solve the problem, it just keeps it in the dark until one day we have mutant creatures or a massive outbreak of toxicity. Then, they will be wishing they had found another way to do their fracking.
"Most of these “Land Farms” are in flood prone areas." It seems to me that these companies lack all common sense. I mean, spraying toxic waste onto the land is not bad at all...not that it is TOXIC or anything. Yeah, they need to get rid of it, but surely there are better and safer ways to do this? Or maybe the company just over all, needs to find a different way of doing things.
Your blog is very delightful. You took a different stand on the issue by avoiding what most people talk about when it comes to fracking. This sort of freshness will keep me coming back!
--Blue Jay
Dear Corporations,
ReplyDeleteI found your blog post interesting but also very frightening. It is a scary thought that toxic waste could be covering the ground in some places and could be in our water wells. It is crazy to think that all of the toxic waste is from Hydraulic Fracking. I liked the statement you made that said, "After it has settled they spray the toxic waste water out onto the open ground to dispose of". This is obviously not a healthy thing to do. Toxic waste on open ground is not something that should occur. This could cause so many issue for humans as well as animals who walk the open ground. I was also intrigued when you said, "...they are suppose to be digging holes for the ash to be buried but instead they are just dropping them off or just barely digging to get rid of them". The fact that the toxic waste (ash) is not diposed of properly when it has the potential to be shows carelessness. This causes me to question my trust in corporations that carry out these actions for drilling purposes. It makes me wonder what else corporations hide from the public domain that could possibly be hazardous to our health. Thanks for writing! I will come back if you continue to write about topics that cause me to question and think.
Britney Crawley
Dear Kalea,
ReplyDeleteThis was shocking. I haven't heard about this at all, so thank you for bringing it to my attention. This was really interesting to find out.
The statement " After it has settled they spray the toxic waste water out onto the open ground to dispose of," really surprised me. Why on earth would they spray toxic waste onto open ground? That's obviously going to either soak into the soil or run off into a nearby body of water, which would ultimately affect the people close by.
Another thing that stood out to me was that they would think that pumping the toxic waste deep into the ground wouldn't affect anybody. It's toxic waste. How would it not affect anybody?
Very good topic. Thank you again for posting.
Bonobo
Dear Blogger,
ReplyDeleteDisconcerting, but not exactly surprising, y'know. Companies tend to cut corners in things like public safety to turn to profit regularly. Some do for years before any of the rest of us catch on.
"...they spray toxic waste water out onto the open ground to dispose of [it]..." That mostly gave me an image an old guy unfurling a giant hose from the back of his trailer and just flooding a field with toxic materials. Yeah. Not a great image.
My only question is about what kinds of companies DO this? What are they producing and what kinds of toxins are their byproducts?
Niftiness abound. Keep bloggin'.
- mockingbird
Dear Kalea,
ReplyDeleteThis was an interesting post because I have heard of fracking and I always wondered where the toxic water was taken.
It is astonishing that companies disregard human health just to save money by dumping their toxic water somewhere nearby, even if it is next to a food crop or animal grazing center.
I agree that companies should be completely responsible for the damage that they have caused to crops, humans, and animals by dumping their toxic water wherever they please.
This was very interesting. Thanks for posting it!
Genet