Posted on 12/24/2013 2:08:06 PM PST by ckilmer
Some upstate New York state water wells naturally have explosive levels of methane gas, even in areas that aren’t near oil or gas drilling, according to a new federal study released Tuesday.
The U.S. Geological Survey study found that 15 percent of groundwater samples from 66 household wells across south-central New York contained naturally occurring methane at levels high enough to warrant monitoring or remediation, even though none of the water wells was within a mile of existing or abandoned natural gas wells. Methane is an odorless, colorless gas which can be explosive in high concentration.
USGS scientist Paul Heisig said the levels in four of the wells were so high that water coming out of a tap could potentially be lit with a match, or be an explosive risk.
Heisig added that the study found significant differences between water wells in valleys and upland areas: Nearly 30 percent of groundwater samples from valleys tested at or above levels that suggest cause for concern, but none of the samples from upland wells did.
Heisig said the research should help policy-makers and the public understand the conditions in the region. The testing was done in the summer of 2012 and the study area included about 1,800 square miles in parts of Broome, Tioga, Chemung, Chenango, and Delaware counties that have Marcellus Shale gas resources that the industry wants to drill.
New York has had a moratorium since 2008 on the “fracking” drilling method that’s used to tap shale gas deposits. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday that he might decide whether to allow limited fracking by the end of 2014.
Heisig said his team didn’t specifically try to link the gas in water wells to the Marcellus formation, but rather focused on documenting the naturally occurring variations in water wells in the region.
In a nearby region of northeastern Pennsylvania, Duke University scientists found that some water wells located within a mile of new gas drilling wells had higher levels of methane, compared with those farther away.
What this article shows is that methane occurs in well lines far far from well sites. It is a phenomenon that doesn't really have anything to do with fracking
Ping.
LOL! Frickin’ frackin’? Ummm. Prolly not.
As do I, on occasion.
“naturally occurring methane at levels high enough to warrant monitoring or remediation, ....”
Drilling fracking, and using all the gas therein for energy, seems likely to be the best form of remediation.
The Federal govt now owns all inland waterways, including your well, which, if drilled deep enough, could go to China. Therefore it is an international waterway according to US.govt and therefore under the rules of the high seas and the United Nations Maritime Commission.
New York can keep their moratorium!
All the better for Pennsylvania, where we are enjoying the gas boom.
My local taxes were reduced 25% this year because of taxes paid by the Gas and Oil Companies.
When have taxes EVER gone down in NY State?
You know the routine...this is NY!!
Excelsior...Ever Upward. No one told us it referred to our taxes.
Methane occurs naturally. So does arsenic. So does lead. etc etc
Occurs naturally. That will throw the leftists for a loop.
Off the coast of Santa Barbara natural seeps have been polluting the water for years but they won’t drill. Gots to save the environment don’t you know.
I live in NY fracking territory. My neighbor has methane, I do not and our shallow wells are about 100 yards apart. I don’t believe the shale has much to do with it.
Their fixed it...
Does the water with methane taste different/bad?
So,,, if the power goes out, you can read by the light of you faucet! Cook too.
The Earth is really a big ball of gas, liquids, and solids?
Who knew?!?!
/s
There are recoverable reserves of just about the entire periodic table underneath our feet and one of the industries of the future will undoubtedly be deep core mining in ways we can’t imagine if the world economy keeps chugging along. Costs will not be as massive as people think now - especially considering we are using 50 or 100 year old technologies and methods.
In fact, I believe at some point in the future (probably in my children’s lifetime) current landfills may be dug up and processed for metals. At some point the technology will exist to make it profitable.
All of us (myself included) tend to stick our future projections into the box of what we know and understand. Technology won’t stand still and the possibilities are endless.
All of us (myself included) tend to stick our future projections into the box of what we know and understand. Technology won’t stand still and the possibilities are endless.
...............
Yeah my dad died in 2004 at age 87. Three months before he died I watched tv with him. We saw the Mars Rover tooling around on the surface of Mars. My dad commented, “I can’t believe I’m alive to see this.”
If I live to be 90, likely 30 years from now there will be unbelievable technologies available.
Certainly I make my living today in a way that I could not have conceived of 30 years ago.
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