No retirement package for this former gas executive

Sheffield Nelson, the former CEO of the Arkansas Louisiana Gas Company is calling for a halt to hydraulic fracturing near lakes, rivers and streams in the State of Arkansas.

It does restore a very tiny bit of faith that there may be industry people out there that have a conscience. The Gas and Oil industry knows hydraulic fracturing is bad, really bad. Do you think any executives will speak up for the citizens of the shale here in Texas? Don't hold your breath! Even if they did, our elected officials down in Austin wouldn't listen. Their campaign funds have given them selective hearing.

Click here to read the story.

Interesting Map of Areas with Fracking

This is a great map of fracking across the United States. It shows a few accidents or issues with fracking. Click here for the article.

A Whole Lotta Shaken Going On in Arlington Neighborhood

Our friend Jeana Cole has been complaining about the constant shaking going on under her Arlington home. Dishes and windows rattle, her pool has small waves and strange bubbles. She isn't the only resident in this neighborhood experiencing these strange events. All this is because of the construction of a natural gas pipeline behind her home.

In addition to the noise and vibration, many residents are worried about the safety of the pipeline. The residents said no to the pipeline but eminent domain allowed DFW Midstream to come through their neighborhood.

Click here for the News 8 story.
Click here for the CBS 11 story.

Better Drilling Practices Include Recycling Waste Water

A recent article in Propublica by Abrahm Lustgarten addresses what to do with fracking waste water. Guess what? It doesn't include piping it underground to a large waste water collection facility or injecting it into a salt water disposal well.

The pressure to reuse rather than dispose of waste water also may have been increased by a series of earthquakes this year near Dallas. Researchers said the earthquakes may have been caused by the company's normal disposal process: injecting waste water underground.

It is on-site recycling and purification. What a great idea. Less fresh water to be wasted on fracking and less fracking waste water to be hauled or piped away to contaminate our air, water, or ground! Gas drilling companies are starting to pursue ways to recycle waste water on site because in some areas they are regulated to do so. The paragraph below is an example of why recycling should be added to standard drilling regulations on the federal, state, and local level.

When change does happen, it is usually foisted on the industry by excessive costs, fear of catastrophe, or regulations.
Asked why his company pursued "green" drilling and fracturing fluid innovations for drilling in the North Sea -- products that it now sometimes uses onshore too -- BJ Services' Dunlap was unequivocal: The law made him do it.

Let's face it, most gas drilling companies won't do it until they are forced to use better drilling practices.

Any connection between earthquakes and drilling? UPDATE

A day after the post below, there is more information about earthquakes in an area that usually doesn't see a lot of this type of activity. Read about an earthquake swarm in Oklahoma

A geothermal project in California has been stopped. Do you think it might be because of "earthquakes"? The project was to extract vast amounts of renewable energy from deep, hot bedrock. The location was 100 miles north of San Francisco called the Geysers. Read a few paragraphs from the article

The project’s apparent collapse comes a day after Swiss government officials permanently shut down a similar project in Basel, because of the damaging earthquakes it produced in 2006 and 2007.

The project’s safety was also under review at the Energy Department after federal officials said the company had not been entirely forthcoming about the earthquakes produced in Basel in making the case for the Geysers project.

The results of that review have not yet been announced, but the type of geothermal energy explored in Basel and at the Geysers requires fracturing the bedrock then circulating water through the cracks to produce steam.

The next line makes the most sense ever!

By its nature, fracturing creates earthquakes, though most of them are small.

Small yes but can still be felt. Even small earthquakes can do some damage over a period of time.

Major damage to a foundation is often identified and fixed soon after an earthquake, but attention should also be given to small cracks that can develop into larger problems over time. Small cracks can shift with time due to soil conditions or small earthquakes, so cracks should be measured every couple of months. If cracks widen, then seek the help of a home inspector to determine if the foundation is sound.

Recent Texas earthquakes all near drilling.
2.8 in Ellis County December 4th
Cleburne earthquakes
DFW area quakes, which led to Chesapeake shutting down two injection wells.