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A Pennsylvania Village Is Without Water After Fracking Allegedly Destroyed Its Wells
Business Insider ^ | 01/07/2012 | AP

Posted on 01/07/2012 2:29:37 PM PST by SeekAndFind

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To: South Hawthorne; brityank; Physicist; WhyisaTexasgirlinPA; GOPJ; abner; baseballmom; Mo1; Ciexyz; ..

ping


41 posted on 01/07/2012 4:25:36 PM PST by Tribune7 (Vote Perry)
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To: Vendome

“I just ate some beans.... “

My love of beans makes me no martyr,
I’m a truly magnificent farter;
..My deafening reports
..In track and field sports
Make me much in demand as a starter.


42 posted on 01/07/2012 4:28:07 PM PST by tumblindice
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To: SeekAndFind

The bottom line for me:

If the EPA is involved, I don’t believe a word of it.


43 posted on 01/07/2012 4:29:20 PM PST by Mr. K (Physically unable to profreed <--- oops, see?)
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To: tumblindice

LOLOLOLOL


44 posted on 01/07/2012 4:47:47 PM PST by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously, you won't live through it anyway)
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To: Dysart
Fracking fluids are basically salad dressing with ultra fine sand. Ranch?

Of course not. Thousand Island.

Well of course, I should have known!

45 posted on 01/07/2012 5:11:18 PM PST by mountainlion (I am voting for Sarah after getting screwed again by the DC Thugs.)
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To: HiTech RedNeck
Anyhow, it’s theoretically possible the company f-ed up the aquifers and then went dancing la la la, but that sounds like an extremely foolish move on their part with Uncle Sam breathing down their necks all the time right or wrong.

"Theoretically", yes.

But, almost certainly, NO!

First, we're talking Pennsylvania -- almost the entire stte is underlaid by coalbeds of one depth or another. Which means that most wells are naturally subject to intrusion by coalbed methane and need to be vented.

Second, the Marcellus Shale strata being fracked is a mile-and-a-half (or more) beneath the aquifers tapped for well water and any coalbeds -- and separated from them by several other impermeable strata.

Speaking from the middle of the Barnett Shale, where horizontal drilling and fracking was first employed in the early nineties, the Dimock complainers (and the EPA) are full of it.

Let's start with any well water tests made before the drilling began. I'd wager there was evidence of methane.

46 posted on 01/07/2012 5:17:37 PM PST by okie01 (THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA: Ignorance On Parade)
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To: SeekAndFind; epithermal; HiTech RedNeck; Jacquerie; cripplecreek; Mr. K; All
Federal Agency Cancels Water Delivery to Pennsylvania Town [Saturday, 1-7-12]

ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency abruptly changed its mind Saturday about delivering fresh water to residents of a northeastern Pennsylvania village where residential wells were found to be tainted by a natural gas drilling operation.

Only 24 hours after promising them water, EPA officials informed residents of Dimock that a tanker truck wouldn't be coming after all -- an about-face that left them furious, confused and let down -- and, once again, scrambling for water for bathing, washing dishes and flushing toilets.

Agency officials would not explain why they reneged on their promise, or say whether water would be delivered at some point.

47 posted on 01/07/2012 6:43:25 PM PST by thouworm (.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Companies need to spend money ahead of time documenting baseline conditions BEFORE putting a bit in the ground. If this operation is in coal country, just the pumping of groundwater from shallow wells that penetrate coal seams can release methane. There are ways to analyze the gas to determine where it originates, but prevention before drilling is the best method.

Then there is the possibility that new water wells to support drilling infrastructure (from drilling make-up water to water for employee trailers) can lower the water table releasing methane from coal seams. So though fracking itself may not have caused pollution, increased human activity in the area may have upset the balance. I’ve seen this happen in Northern New Mexico so have an idea that this, rather than fracking, may be the cause.


48 posted on 01/07/2012 8:44:12 PM PST by CedarDave (I'm one of the 75 percenters: Nominate a conservative and not Romney as the GOP candidate)
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To: CedarDave
I’ve seen this happen in Northern New Mexico so have an idea that this, rather than fracking, may be the cause.

Makes sense.

Where there is coal, there is methane. Pennsylvania used to be a major natural gas producer -- on the basis of shallow coal-bed methane. There are abandoned wells all over the state.

49 posted on 01/07/2012 8:58:04 PM PST by okie01 (THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA: Ignorance On Parade)
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To: SeekAndFind

They do this all the time in Texas, too. They poison water wells. One guy could torch his faucet gas “water.” It is a huge problem the industry likes to pretend is a “conspiracy theory.” LOL This country is insane.

You can’t run this country and economy without energy; you can’t live without clean water and air. Unfortunately, we have the radical water melons always waiting in the wings to make things much worse instead of solving the problems. On the other side we have the hear no evil, see no evil, say no evil profit is all that matters, energy industry supporters. It boils down to stupid versus evil. There is no good will and common sense permitted.


50 posted on 01/07/2012 9:18:52 PM PST by SaraJohnson
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To: SeekAndFind

The article seems a bit skimpy on details.


51 posted on 01/08/2012 4:38:18 AM PST by James Mott
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To: thackney

Your thoughts on this??


52 posted on 01/08/2012 6:09:32 AM PST by Arrowhead1952 (Dear God, thanks for the rain, but please let it rain more in Texas. Amen.)
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To: mountainlion

actually closer to italian


53 posted on 01/08/2012 6:48:28 AM PST by waynesa98
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To: Arrowhead1952

Dimock water issues are not related to hydraulic fracturing.

Cabot had casing problems that polluted the local wells. Cabot fixed the problem, had to provide drinking water to the locals until their water cleared up. In some cases they had to provide methane removal systems to existing wells even though it was disputed that the methane existed prior to Cabots drilling.

Eventually, the water tested good and Cabot requested and was granted a reprive from delivering water to replace the wells now testing good.

The EPA is not going to deliver water either it seems, I don’t know why anyone from their claimed they would.

Federal agency cancels water delivery to Pa. town
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501363_162-57354515/federal-agency-cancels-water-delivery-to-pa-town/
January 7, 2012 6:11 PM

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency abruptly changed its mind Saturday about delivering fresh water to residents of a northeastern Pennsylvania village where residential wells were found to be tainted by a natural gas drilling operation.

Only 24 hours after promising them water, EPA officials informed residents of Dimock that a tanker truck wouldn’t be coming after all. The about-face left residents furious, confused and let down — and, once again, scrambling for water for bathing, washing dishes and flushing toilets.


54 posted on 01/09/2012 5:24:12 AM PST by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: thackney
Cabot had casing problems that polluted the local wells.

That is usually the cause of groundwater contamination if obvious surface sources are eliminated. In the case of many older wells in NM, cement was not commonly circulated along the entire length of casing. For new wells, a lengthy, well cemented string of surface casing will usually eliminate future problems.

55 posted on 01/09/2012 7:00:36 AM PST by CedarDave (I'm one of the 75 percenters: Nominate a conservative and not Romney as the GOP candidate)
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