Produced Waste Water, Pipelines and Tank Batteries

Tank Batteries
Tank batteries are large storage tanks that hold the produced water, which flows with the natural gas to the surface.

Tank batteries have been noted as contributing to the air quality issue here in North Texas.
http://www.smu.edu/News/2009/al-armendariz-fwst-8june2009.aspx

Armendariz estimated that, in the nine-county Metroplex area, gas drilling produced about 112 tons per day of pollution, compared with 120 tons per day from vehicle traffic. In a 20-county area, including rural counties, he estimated that gas drilling produced 191 tons per day.
The pollution comes from a couple of major sources. The tank batteries used to store wastewater and condensate, which is a light form of crude oil, often vent to the atmosphere. The motors used to drive pipeline compressors often have no pollution controls. And drillers frequently vent natural gas to the atmosphere when they complete a well.

Tank batteries can also catch fire and explode.
http://www.timesreporter.com/news/x1362383798/Oil-storage-tanks-catch-fire-cause-blast
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/13816764/Natural-Gas-Processing
http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=188446
http://www.usfra.org/video/051509-incredible-tank-battery

The produced water in the tanks contains toxic chemicals, is flammable, and radioactive!
http://www.elpaso.com/msds/A0133-Produced%20Water.pdf
http://www.propublica.org/feature/is-the-marcellus-shale-too-hot-to-handle-1109

Oil and Gas is the only industry exempt from the following:
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act.
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
Safe Drinking Water Act.
Clean Air Act.
National Environmental Policy Act
Toxic Release Inventory under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act

A large “tank farm” or wastewater collection facility is being proposed by Williams Production in the Town of Flower Mound. The amount of tanks that will be at this site seems to keep growing. Number of Tanks started with 14 and is now up to 38. This site would store waste water from over 125 proposed gas wells.

This proposal would require that the town’s Oil and Gas Ordinance be changed to allow the site and the extra pipelines to pump the toxic produced waste water to this facility. If it is added to the ordinance, then it can be done by any gas company in other areas of the town. Pipelines would fall under eminent domain and could be placed any where throughout the town. There will still be truck traffic going to and from the “tank farms”. There is no proof that the proposed activity will reduce the number of trucks on the road.

Wow how great will that be?

Pressurized toxic, flammable and radioactive drilling waste water running 4 feet underground throughout the town.

Large quantities of produced water storage tanks per collection facility location that produce large volumes of VOC’s and are flammable.
Frightening.