A natural gas drilling rig on the Wattenberg field, located northeast of Denver.
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Boom in gas drilling fuels contamination concerns in Colorado
Some scientists and citizens want firms that extract natural gas to reveal what chemicals they’re using.
By Josh McDaniel | Contributor of The Christian Science Monitor/ February 5, 2009 edition
Grand Junction, Colo.
When Lisa Bracken noticed gas bubbling to the surface of Divide Creek, which runs along one side of her 60 acres in western Colorado, she suspected another gas “seep.” It had happened once before, in 2004, after faulty natural-gas drilling in the vicinity contaminated the creek with benzene and methane.
Her concern, though, is not confined to the small waterway. Her cottonwood and pinyon trees are dying, along with parts of meadowland that her family manages for wildlife, and Ms. Bracken believes the likely culprit is methane seepage stemming from one or more of the 11 natural-gas wells within a mile of her property – though independent investigations have not been able to prove a link.
“It is so frustrating to watch the land die,” she says. Bracken does not think the current drought is responsible. “We have seen it go through drought cycles, but nothing like this. The land has lost its ability to sustain itself.”
Her concern and that of others is putting new scrutiny on a drilling practice knows as “fracing,” short for hydraulic fracturing.
A common component of natural-gas extraction worldwide, fracturing operations inject water, sand, and a cocktail of chemicals at high pressure into rock formations thousands of feet below the surface, opening existing fractures in the rock and allowing gas to rise through the wells. The practice makes drilling possible in areas that 10 to 20 years ago would not have been profitable, including parts of Colorado, which accounts for 6.2 percent of natural-gas produced in the US.
The concerns center mainly around the injected fluid. Most comes back to the surface, but 30 to 40 percent is never recovered, according to industry estimates.
The composition of hydraulic fracturing fluids is proprietary, and energy companies are vehement about the need to keep the contents secret to protect their competitive edge. That confidentiality is protected by the federal Energy Policy Act of 2005, which exempted hydraulic fracturing from regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
“We now use five to 10 ‘frac’ jobs per well, with up to 100 million gallons of fluid used per frac,” says geologist Geoffrey Thyne of the University of Wyoming, whose analysis of the large gas fields around Divide Creek found elevated methane and chloride levels in groundwater samples.
“They are injecting fluid that may or may not be hazardous into thousands of wells and not recovering all of it. We have to ask, what is in those fluids and where does the fluid go?” says Mr. Thyne.
Theo Colborn, a leading researcher on the effects of toxins on the human endocrine system, has been trying to glean what is in the injection fluid.
Preliminary results of her study identify 65 chemicals that are probable components. She is urging that groundwater sampling be expanded to determine whether these chemicals or their byproducts are showing up in areas where hydraulic fracturing is being used.
“We know less and less about what chemicals are being used, but the ones that we do know are being used are very dangerous,” says Dr. Colborn.
Chemicals such as benzene, glycol-ethers, toluene, 2-(2-methoxyethoxy) ethanol, and nonylphenols were used in the fracturing fluids, her study found – all of which have been linked in previous research to health disorders when human exposure is too high.
Pushing for legislation
Colborn’s work and complaints from residents living near drilling operations are spurring policymakers to take a closer look at hydraulic fracturing. US Reps. Diana DeGette (D) and John Salazar (D), both of Colorado, have introduced legislation that would repeal the Safe Drinking Water Act exemption for hydraulic fracturing and force energy companies to reveal the contents of the fracturing fluids.
“There is little reason to continue the exemption,” says Representative DeGette in a phone interview. “Communities have a right to know what is potentially threatening their water.”
Energy industry officials say there’s no evidence that hydraulic fracturing contaminates groundwater or threatens public health.
“This is an answer in search of a problem,” says Doug Hock, a spokesman for EnCana, the firm that is drilling near Bracken’s land. “Chemicals in themselves do not create risk; risk is created when the proper technology and procedures are not in place. We take very stringent precautions.”
Colorado fined EnCana $371,000 – the largest fine in state history for a drilling-related incident – after finding the company responsible for the 2004 gas seep in Divide Creek. But the state is allowing drilling to continue in the area.
The proposed federal legislation would only increase the regulatory burden on industry but do little to protect human health, suggests Dollis Wright, a public-health consultant who has conducted studies for the Colorado Oil and Gas Association. “There are groups out there that are listing chemicals found in the fluids, and they always say such and such chemical causes cancer.
Well, just because a chemical is in the fluids does not mean it is going to get into your water. And if it gets into your water, it does not mean that it is going to cause harm,” she says. “It may have to be inhaled, rather than drunk, to cause the negative effects they cite.”
Others argue the legislation is well past due. “If you don’t know what you are looking for, it is hard to do analysis,” says Susan Griffin, a toxicologist with the US Environmental Protection Agency in a phone interview. “There are a lot of good scientific tools out there, but we need opportunities to apply them. Those opportunities don’t exist right now.”
‘Fracing’ to blame for explosion?
Ben Bounds, for one, would like additional assurances about fracing’s safety.
In the summer of 2007, methane seeped from his domestic well and exploded inside his pump house. The explosion lifted the pump-house roof off the frame and melted or singed everything inside. A few days later, a state inspector with a methane detector investigated the Bounds property in rural Huerfano County, at the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.
“When he opened the door to the garage, the detector went absolutely crazy,” says Mr. Bounds.
While 50 methane drilling wells and active hydraulic fracturing operations are nearby, a lack of independent monitoring and testing has made it impossible to prove that fracing created pathways for methane to collect in Bounds’s domestic water system.
Bounds and his family immediately evacuated the home, and they’ve had to evacuate many times since when detectors Bounds installed have signaled the presence of methane.
The state advised that Bounds not allow his grandchildren or any visitors to come to the property, and his insurance company has threatened to drop coverage. He has thought about simply
abandoning the home since he could not in good conscience sell the property.
“Why are they allowed to keep this a secret? That’s not right,” Bounds says. “It only seems like common sense to me that they would have to release the contents of those fluids and prove they aren’t causing problems.”
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Comments
2. Lisa Bracken | 02.05.09
The only reason Divide Creek has been referred to as Pepsi Creek, is because of the furious fizzing that occurred in 2004 when EnCana blew an estimated 115 million cubic feet of raw natural gas into it and the surrounding environment.
The reason this article does not mention that gas has been seeping into this creek for a hundred years is because that is not a fact. It is a fallacy first circulated by EnCana in their defense before they were found responsible and fined for this event.
It is ironic that the “tone” of this article fails to note the true sense of urgency as a consequence of the combined scope, density and pace of natural gas development across the country – never more evident than right here in the bull’s eye: http://www.journeyoftheforsaken.com
Of even greater irony is the EnCana spokesperson’s comment that “This is an answer in search of a problem,” — a comment parroted frequently in response to many environmental or public health and safety issues confronted by EnCana.
In fact, only a week ago, EnCana created yet another incident where, according to engineering reports, ground water and natural gas entered into the well bore in a mishap that required two different remediation efforts to presumably correct.
Although there is probably reason to believe that ground water that supplies 9 families and West Divide Creek with water, may have been contaminated from the gas and its associated toxic components, neither EnCana nor the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission bothered to notify residents. Further, neither have any interest in determining whether drinking water supplies were impacted or whether they are now safe to consume. In fact, the only reason anyone learned about the incident was because of one neighbor talking to someone familiar with operations and then passing it on to another neighbor.
We have to rely upon such pathways of incidental communication to even discover that our water may have been jeopardized.
A report, however, was made today (02-05-09) to the EPA and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, regarding this incident.
Sadly, all of this is approaching the realm of litigation. And the only reason for that is because industry, insulated from responsibility by weak and ineffective regulation - they have so tirelessly lobbied for - fails to conduct itself in a responsible manner, preferring instead to parrot inane PR slogans.
3. Wally White | 02.05.09
I was disappointed to see that this article did not mention the incident in La Plata County that almost killed an emergency room nurse last April when she was exposed to frakking mud on the boots of a gas field employee that came to Mercy Hospital for treatment after a spill at a BP well in the county. Nurse Cathy Behr spent two weeks in intensive care and has not yet fully recovered. Medical personnel were unable to obtain the chemical formula for Zetaflow because the manufacturer, Weatherford, refused to release it claiming proprietary priviledge. The gas industry received an exemption from the EPA Clean Water Act in 2005 which allows them to use toxic fluids in the drilling process. No other industry has such an exemption and there is no oversight in the usage of these toxic chemicals. Hopefully, the new administration will see fit to protect our water supplies and citizens by rescinding this exemption.
4. Geoffrey Thyne | 02.06.09
The author appears to have mis-quoted me regarding the amount of fluid per frac job. A typical single frac job uses between 50,000 and 300,000 gallons. Therefore, a well with 5 to 10 fracs would use between 250,000 to 3,000,000 gallons per well. Based on a rate of well drilling the last eight years in Garfield County’s Mamm Creek Field of about 200 wells per year, between 50,000,000 and 600,000,000 gallons of fracking fluids were injected per year.
5. John Interval | 02.06.09
Take it easy. Those of us who make our living in the oil and gas industry are constantly being scrutinized by the tree huggers in America. As a petroleum geologist for over 20 years I can assure you we love the environment too!! Common folk have no idea what it takes to make a oil or gas well but those same people use natural gas to heat their homes and oil to put into the machinery that makes the United States what it is today not to mention the gasoline that takes us to our jobs. Wise up people. Unless you want to chop wood to keep warm in the winter, ride horses to go to work or never take a vacation more than 10 miles from your house, the oil and gas industry is your best friend. There is no industry that pays more money to the environment for keeping our country going green. The regulations we deal with everyday have every tree hugger in mind and we pay a pretty penny to do our business to stay within the strict guidelines of our operations. Not an operator exists that wants to do harm to our environment and our government makes sure we are heavily fined when we don’t. By the way, it is the oil and gas industry that allows our country lead in the 21st Century. When your warm at night, say a pray for geologist and engineer that’s keeping you warm. When you start your car, thank a geologist and an engineer. When you go to work to crank up your machine, thank a geologist or engineer. We have been overtaxed and under appreciated for too long. We keep this country moving with horsepower 21st century style. Keep it up and we can thank you for giving us Snoopy and Prickly Pete to get to work on. John J. Interval, P.G.,C.P.G.
6. TXsharon | 02.06.09
If hydraulic fracturing is so damn safe, why does the industry need the exemption?
Bluedaze: Drilling Reform for Texas http://txsharon.blogspot.com/
7. RJC | 02.08.09
The article, nor the illustration in the print edition sadly not reproduced here, mentions horizontal drilling. Can anyone comment on what the significance of that might be, assuming that this now common technique is being used here?
8. Ben Voivedich | 02.09.09
I own a project management firm that provides services to at least one of the companies noted in your article. I am also a relatively new resident of Colorado who loves the state.
Your article brought back memories of my time in California running an oilfield service company. Folks in Santa Barbara county were convinced that oil washing up on the pristine beaches was coming from oil platforms located off the coast that had been installed in the previous three years. After alarming headlines from the media and exhaustive research by the companies (not the local or state media!), it was determined that the seepages were natural and had been occurring for hundreds of years as evidenced in part by Indian artifacts and Spanish records that were hundreds of years old. The bottom line was that they blamed the oil industry first rather than doing a non partisan and scientific based study focused on the oil globs on the beach.
It may turn out that the family that drilled a well that is now producing methane drilled into a water structure that contained methane. When was the well drilled and at what depth? I saw nothing about those vital facts in the article, only the understandable and emotional implication that the oil industry was at fault. How will knowing the content of the frac fluids solve that issue?
With regards to the lady, independent investigation has shown no correlation between her trees dying and drilling, yet she persists in her beliefs. Have other nearby neighbors experienced the same problem? Is gas bubbling a natural occurence in an area that has obvious sub surface pockets of natural gas? I can understand her alarm and concern but there appears to be no proof that drilling is the culprit. The safety of the employees and the public is the first focus of every oil related company I work with. They live and work in Colorado and love the environment just as much as the rest of us. Implying that they are purposely being negligent is unfair given the facts at hand.
The United States needs domestic sources of natural gas and Colorado is a vital source for it. I hope one day that a significant portion of our transportation fuel needs can be met with it. My fear is that the radical environmental groups and their political allies in the Colorado legislature will not be satisfied until the oil and gas industry is dismantled along with thousands of jobs and the associated taxes paid to the state and local governments . They have trotted out “animal mating” rituals as one way of disabling the industry (it didn’t work) and it appears that “frac fluid content” is another one. The chemicals used in drilling are a part of the process and they have ominuous and intimidating names that rightly concern the neighbors closeby. I say let the investigations run their course focused on the specific issues for each incident instead of letting academics and environmental groups tie the issues to their own political agenda and the foolish dream of a modern society only powered by solar and the wind!
9. Ben | 02.10.09
Mr Interval,
You state: “The regulations we deal with everyday have every tree hugger in mind and we pay a pretty penny to do our business to stay within the strict guidelines of our operations.”
How can you make this claim with a straight face when the Frac water is exempted from the very regulations meant to protect drinking water? The oil and gas industry has spent millions of dollars in lawsuits and lobbying trying to avoid compliance with the Clean Water Act, National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and Clean Air Act.
see: http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1981
Not to mention the drugs and sex scandals between the industry and the Agency intended to collect royalties which resulted in massive under collection of money.
See: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/11/washington/11royalty.html
It is far beyond the time for the most profitable industry in the country to stop avoiding their responsibility to comply with the law.
10. J. McKamey | 02.27.09
I understand how companies such as this could be accountable and why they should be. These are not the arguments to have. What I would like to know is how are they accountable? exactly not vaugely as expressed in their defenses… and why do they not have more resaerch to support their claims to the general public- which they should play a role in educating about their practices. This would seem like a prerequsite to any project as they become part of the communities they are harvesting resources from. I am sure everyone understands the benefits of modern technology. The question is do they understand the risks and responsibilities? I by no means a “tree hugger” in the negatives conotation in which it is so often used. I do enjoy and value trees. I do appreciate life and think as sentient and intelligent beings we should make the best attempt at stewardship possible. Companies that can recognize being truly eco friendly and profitable are possible and to everyones advantage. Perhaps they are the ones that need to catch up…
11. John Interval | 04.05.09
Ben, Grow up! That’s why I used my last name. If accidents never happened there would be no need for the EPA. I notice you didn’t quote the fact that there is no advantage for ant company to break the rules. Once again, the focus is on energy. We couldn’t even have this conversation online without it. Believe me, everytime we find something, The Marcellus Shale Play as a current example, the governments first order of business has been taxation without even being able to get a drilling permit. That’s having your cake and eating it too. I like to be right when I make a comment or a decision. But I like to stand in the middle with my politics when I’m making my comment or decision. So my friend I assume the only way I will ever hear from you again is from a biodegradable hot air ballon. Otherwise, any retort would be hypocritical since your opinion falls off the left edge of reality. John J Interval, P.G., C.P.G
12. Jake | 06.18.09
Mr. Interval,
I’m just curious, do you live in an area where natural gas is extracted close to your home?
13. Petro Geo | 06.23.09
Ms. Bracken is guided by dragonflies, not by science. What can you expect from her? Why be bothered with logic, rationality, or science, when “Brazen” her dragonfly “spirit guide” can show us all the truth behind her allegations? This is from her website:
———————- http://www.journeyoftheforsaken.com/sitemap.htm
“On August 8th, 2007, EnCana was heading down into Summerhawk to look at
and repair some damage their contractors had done to our water system. As
I watched their big white diesels went their way into the canyon, this
large dragonfly stopped by to visit. It lingered for well over five
minutes conveying a very powerful message.
Year’s ago - many years ago, during a meditative regression, a dragonfly
visited me and guided me to a place of peaceful reflection. It was my
first concentrated, regressive experience and I came to regard Dragonfly
folk as primary spirit guides. That first dragonfly who came to me
through meditation - I referred to as ‘Brazen’. This dragonfly reminds me
of Brazen a great deal.
The message this wise creature imparted to me on the day it allowed me to
take photograph after photograph: This is only the beginning. There is
strength and wisdom surrounding you, if you pay attention you will be
guided. ”
———————-
yeah, we need to listen to someone like this about geology, that’s a great idea.
14. John Interval | 07.28.09
Yes Jake, I live smack in the middle of the oil and gas patch in Pa. I have spent 22 years in the industry and design frac jobs as well as prospect for natural gas. The paper work for disposal of all containments is very strict as it should be. I was born 20 miles south of Canonsburg, Pa. Madam Currie had her uranium plant there and a place called Town Park was built on top of this environmental disaster. ALL of my Canonsburg relatives except my Grandmother died of Cancer. Fracing a well and disposal of the after frac, thank God, is monitored. There’s a big difference between Environmental Consciences and Environmental Responsibility. I wouldn’t work with anyone who would not comply with regulations. I believe finding natural gas is not only a talent, it is the best thing we have right this minute to solve all that needs to be solved right now. This buys us time.
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1. BJ | 02.05.09
One historical fact about Divide Creek is that it is sometimes called Pepsi Creek by the locals. Gas has been seeping up in that creek in various spots for a hundred years, but to include that fact in this article would work against the tone of the article.