Green | July 07, 2011 | 53 comments

Fracking fluids poison a national forest

source: http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=1498

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JanforGore
A new study has found that wastewater from natural gas hydrofracturing in a West Virginia national forest quickly wiped out all ground plants, killed more than half of the trees and caused radical changes in soil chemistry. These results argue for much tighter control over disposal of these “fracking fluids,” contends Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).

The new study by Mary Beth Adams, a U.S. Forest Service researcher, appears in the July-August issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of Environmental Quality. She looked at the effects of land application of fracking fluids on a quarter-acre section of the Fernow Experimental Forest within the Monongahela National Forest. More than 75,000 gallons of fracking fluids, which are injected deep underground to free shale gas and then return to the surface, were applied to the assigned plot over a two day period during June 2008. The following effects were reported in the study:


•Within two days all ground plants were dead;

•Within 10 days, leaves of trees began to turn brown. Within two years more than half of the approximately 150 trees were dead; and

•“Surface soil concentrations of sodium and chloride increased 50-fold as a result of the land application of hydrofracturing fluids…” These elevated levels eventually declined as chemical leached off-site. The exact chemical composition of these fluids is not known because the chemical formula is classified as confidential proprietary information.

“The explosion of shale gas drilling in the East has the potential to turn large stretches of public lands into lifeless moonscapes,” stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, noting that land disposal of fracking fluids is common and in the case of the Fernow was done pursuant to a state permit. “This study suggests that these fluids should be treated as toxic waste.”

For the past twenty-five years, the Forest Service has not applied any environmental restrictions on private extraction efforts, even in wilderness areas. As a result, forests, like the Monongahela, which sits astride the huge Marcellus Shale gas formation, have struggled with many adverse impacts of widespread drilling. By contrast, the nearby George Washington National Forest (NF) has recently proposed to ban horizontal drilling, a practice associated with hydrofracking, due to concern about both the ecosystem damage and also the huge amount of water required for the fracking process. Two subcommittees of the House of Representatives will hold a joint hearing this Friday to examine the George Washington NF’s singular pro-conservation stance.

“Unfortunately, the Forest Service has drilled its head deeply into the sand on oil and gas operations harming forest assets,” Ruch added, noting the National Wildlife Refuges also lack regulations to minimize drilling impacts. “The Forest Service needs to develop a broader approach than asking each forest supervisor to cast a lone profile in courage or cowardice.”
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53 comments // Fracking fluids poison a national forest

  • ecoalex
    • 0
      ecoalex  

    • A national Forest is for all Americans,not just the gas co.This shows who is firmly in control;the gas cos.We saw the same thing in the gulf with the BP spill.

    • 11 months ago
  • AlGoreFangirl
    • -2
      AlGoreFangirl  

    • Those oil and gas nazis are trying to do the same to Colorado. We should stop using oil and switch to electric powered cars run on renewable energy.

    • 11 months ago
  • jsayler
  • tommic
    • +1
      tommic  

    • It does not take more than a basic knowledge of science to grasp Fracking is a dangerous proposition. The pollution created and groundwater contaminated far outweighs any benifit man may gain. Fracking is plain bad for the envionment

    • 11 months ago
  • wally60
  • nobsartist
    • +1
      nobsartist  

    • There is still a bridge over the Rouge River that burned when the river lit up in the 60's and it has not been repaired yet. Since somebody killed a National Forest, I think that the owner of that company should be executed.

      In fact, I think that the energy companies should be taxed for EVERYTHING they pull out of the soil. When they are done, if the area is not left as it was when they started, FINES.

      It is time to nationalize the energy companies for the greater good of our country.

    • 11 months ago
  • VFORVENDETTA
  • freehit
    • +1
      freehit  

    • On a related note of burning tap water; I used to live in Boston,N.Y. a small podunk town close to Buffalo back in 1978-'79. (The house used to belong to the Nazi general who ran the V-2 program, which is another topic all together.) It was built into the hill side with Back Creek in front and two feeder streams bordering the sides. The one stream had natural gas bubbleing out of the shale bottom that you could light on fire, which as a kid I enjoyed doing. The other "feature" of the house was that when you first turned on the faucet, it would hiss natural gas before the water came out (and it stunk too). This too could be set on fire but since my parents weren't too keen on having the house blown up by their kid, I did that one only once. No fracking was required, in fact it was far more common that to drill for water, you had to try a few times before you would stop hitting gas and hit water. The down side was that the output was too small to tap for commercial use. Now if the area had used fracking at the time, all those small pockets would have been merged into one big one and not only would my water have stunk and hissed at me, it would have poisoned me as well. I guess there ARE benifits to being an old fart. I got the fun of "burning" water without the side helping of poison.

    • 11 months ago
  • freehit
    • +2
      freehit  

    • Anyone remember the original Battlestar Galactica? If you do, you'll rember that the word "frack" was their clean substitute for a word that describes what this process is doing to the environment. We are "fracking" up this planet well and truely.

    • 11 months ago
  • Dusty_King
    • 0
      Dusty_King  

    • And these poor slobs in West Virginia hill country think it's just great. They got them there jobs and they making that there energy fer the USA!! USA!! USA!! Doncha' know nothin'.

      Yeah, this is the voting public, be afraid, very afraid. Half these inbred jeds will claim its made up crap from Washington and there's nothing wrong. Yeah.

    • 11 months ago
  • hurleyburly
  • COMMONSENSEFORCOMMONGOOD_COM
  • derk
    • +1
      derk  

    • This is just sickening ... I can't believe this is being trumpeted as a possible solution to meeting our out-of-control demand for energy. I fracking hate fracking.

    • 11 months ago
  • JanforGore
    • +2
      JanforGore  
    • derk:

      Yes, god forbid we ever decide as a whole to stop our voracious use of energy thinking we are so special on this Earth. These people are indeed in part in business because our energy appetite is insatiable. We truly need to begin to understand that what we want to live and what we need to live are two different things and stop treating the Earth like a limitless environmental ATM machine.

    • 11 months ago
  • derk
    • +1
      derk  
    • JanforGore:

      A to the G to the R to the double E. People act like it is an inalienable right to be wasteful if one has the means to do so. In reality, the means is not being calculated properly. Giving subsidies to these oligolopical (my own word) jerks is completely unacceptable.

    • 11 months ago
  • percipi224
    • 0
      percipi224  
    • JanforGore:

      you know what is interesting about our so called energy addiction...most people...even those in large cities with great mass transit never stray beyone a 10 block area, about the size of a small town. Everything is in walking or biking distance for the most part. We don't need this much energy and yet whenever the american people cut back on usage, find a way to conserve the energy industry shouts "shortage" and raises the prices of oil and coal. I recently learned that the dvr-cable box uses more energy than my fridge. egad!

    • 11 months ago
  • wynnmeg61
    • 0
      wynnmeg61  

    • Just so you all know Obama's adminitration is trying to stop this and amp up regulation. However we the people are going to have to get a whole lot louder. Calling out to you from the land of Cheney Bin Rape Terra, alot of these mineral rights under our national property were sold off many years ago, Cheney has been on the job of stealing our minerals and preventing advances in sustainable clean energy since 1978 when he represented us in Wyoming if you could call it that. The Bush/Cheney administration also went along way towards pulling the teeth of our EPA and BLM and Forest service making it very hard for them to protect us.

      We have to stop fracing right now--regardless of what T Boone might tell you. We could in fact go along way towards solving our energy needs by simply getting the same energy capture from our power plants they get in Europe and Asia(80 to 90% compared to 30%) The only way to get the people attention is to let them know that they are poisoning all of us. Can you immagine what fracing is doing to the groundwater. We are totally dependent on groundwater here as is much of the nation.

    • 11 months ago
  • percipi224
  • gypsysailor
    • 0
      gypsysailor  

    • Here's an idea. Let's get the owners of these companies to participate in the following experiment. They drop their pants and bend over and get a fracking hose shoved up their ass. Next inject a fracking fluid compound. If they survive then they can frack for gas. If they do not survive then I guess the practice is just not safe.

    • 11 months ago
  • chew_chew
    • 0
      chew_chew  

    • We (each State) should do what NJ did and stop it. We don't need studies, just look at what it does. The vile and poisonous results are right out in the open where anyone - willing to simply look - can easily see.

    • 11 months ago
  • Gravity_Man
    • 0
      Gravity_Man  
    • chew_chew:

      Hmm. You've just defined the revolution Kenny keeps wanting. State-by-State secession... States breaking away from the mothership's course striking out on their own.

      I guess from now on we'll have to bow to you. Rats.

    • 11 months ago
  • chew_chew
    • 0
      chew_chew  
    • Gravity_Man:

      What?

      I have said, and thought, nothing about State-by-State secession. How did you make that huge leap in reasoning?

      You're saying if any State passes any State law, it is the same as the State wanting to secede from the Union?

    • 11 months ago
  • Gravity_Man
    • 0
      Gravity_Man  
    • chew_chew:

      No, not exactly a full secession just a Limited Secession by cherry-picking the battles you want to win. It's already been done anyway, such as Romney having his own "Romneycare".

      It isn't a leap at all. In fact it's quite logical, so we who are about to die SALUTE YOU, RAT LEADER and possible aspirant to the Spock Empire.

    • 11 months ago
  • Gravity_Man
    • 0
      Gravity_Man  
    • chew_chew:

      After all, when the pickings at the market gets slim it's EVERY SHOPPER FOR YOSELF. Each State defines what it likes and rejects what it doesn't like by coming up with IN-STATE RULES OF BUSINESS. I fail to see where this a new leap. I thought everybody wanted FREEDOM.

      Did I miss something?

    • 11 months ago
  • Gravity_Man
    • +1
      Gravity_Man  
    • chew_chew:

      You need to expand your Mind. Like Rush Limbaugh today violently opposed to a Third Party when in fact he doesn't fear a 3rd party he fears a 4th & 5th Party because the 3rd + 4th + 5th Party could easily decide to AGREE AND CAUSE THE DEFEAT OF EITHER THE 1ST OR THE 2ND PARTY, HANDS DOWN ACTUALLY.

      Three small sharks can destroy either larger shark, any ol' time they want.

    • 11 months ago
  • wynnmeg61
  • Gravity_Man
  • wynnmeg61
  • Gravity_Man
    • 0
      Gravity_Man  
    • wynnmeg61:

      Ever hear of a COMPUTER? How about a database? How about a running 5 Party database that scans for agreeable thoughts between the 5?

      Ever hear of Attack & Destroy? Pearl Harbor? ANYTHING?

    • 11 months ago
  • chew_chew
    • 0
      chew_chew  
    • Gravity_Man:

      I am all for expanding our minds, same as you.

      "No, not exactly a full secession just a Limited Secession by cherry-picking the battles you want to win."

      I think I may see what you mean, Gravity_Man.

      You are likening what I have said about the fracking to what the Texas Governor has done by allowing the execution the foreign-born prisoner before allowing his (the foreign-born prisoner) country to assist him in any way with his defense, as per international law, which the U.S. has signed on to, so that the U.S. gets to do the same for U.S. citizens imprisoned abroad? In this instance, the failure to comply with even the direct intervention of the national government was not enough for the Texas Governor, and now we (any U.S. citizen) may no longer enjoy the benefit of having the U.S. help us, should we be accused of a crime in a foreign country.

      And your point, if I understand it correctly, is that stopping the fracking on a State level could somehow lead to consequences similar to what has now happened to all U.S. citizens as a result of the actions of Texas?

      Are you saying you believe States should have no rights to pass State laws?

      I believe I understand where you are coming from with the Mr Limbaugh comment, btw.

    • 11 months ago
  • Gravity_Man
  • COMMONSENSEFORCOMMONGOOD_COM
    • 0
      COMMONSENSEFORCOMMONGOOD_COM  

    • Have you been noticing the unrelenting ads spinning and coating the fossil fuel industry's aggression on our environments with mothers and babies, all american apple pie, salute the flag messages intended to brainwash the public into thinking that fossil fuel is their friend?

    • 11 months ago
  • JanforGore
  • Fishinflick
    • +1
      Fishinflick  
    • COMMONSENSEFORCOMMONGOOD_COM:

      Oh yeah I know the one you speak of well - "Look at all Natural Gas did for you today!" The ad should show people having a hot dog roast from their taps, their kids sitting in a tub with an iridescent sheen of diesel covering them, people raking dead leaves in the SPRINGTIME, show dead livestock lying around the water trough... The VO could go something like "...we flambéed your weenie from the convenience of your tap, gave your kid's a de-lousing, took care of your lawn chores for good, saved you a bundle on livestock feed...

    • 11 months ago
  • nikonwilly
    • 0
      nikonwilly  
    • COMMONSENSEFORCOMMONGOOD_COM:

      Yes it is sickening....it is scary to think this blatant ,idiotic propaganda actually works to the extent it does .....I guess the combination of, greed and ignorance adds up ...how do we fight against this ? The internet is helping , but at this rate we will be so far behind we'll never make it. Seen the BP ads lately ....Lies,lies and nothing but lies...In this Country with enough money and air time lies become the new truth ....Leaving is looking better all the time.

    • 11 months ago
  • COMMONSENSEFORCOMMONGOOD_COM
  • COMMONSENSEFORCOMMONGOOD_COM
    • 0
      COMMONSENSEFORCOMMONGOOD_COM  

    • Like the FDA, EPA, Atomic Regualatory agency, and most other regulatory agencies which have been steadily staffed with non doing and blind eye turning corporate lackeys, neither the EPA or the Forest Service have been doing their jobs, but instead have been fostering the violations and crimes which they were designed to prevent, all for their personal financial enrichment. What good does regulation do if those who staff the agencies accept more pay to not do their jobs than they get to do their jobs? It's all part of the well funded and organized war against the people!

    • 11 months ago
  • Arizona_Huey
  • queenofit
    • +2
      queenofit  

    • I finally got around to watching the documentary Gasland. It covers all of this fracking/drilling/pumping the chemicals into ground and back out again, so on, so forth. If anyone watches that movie and still agrees this is safe in ANYWAY, then they themselves are brain dead. Come on, there were plenty of homes who had water that exploded when a little Bic lighter was lit near it. I mean, really? The regulators that were interviewed in the movie are beyond hope, they are in the back pocket of these guys too. I recall an old pal of mine in Arkansas telling me a couple years ago his wife had just signed a contract to have her mineral rights used on her land in Louisiana, the amount was somewhere near 50 million dollars, I wonder if that was what she was selling? That amount of money seemed unread to me at the time? That is what is crazy, the insane amount money this is creating, and someone says, well, at least we don't have to depend on foreign oil,uh.....well, if we keep destroying our own country this way, we don't need foreign oil, we will need to move to foreign land, cause this is going to far. The thing is, unless land owners sell their rights to these companies, they cannot drill. This is one of those things, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is......

    • 11 months ago
  • COMMONSENSEFORCOMMONGOOD_COM
  • JanforGore
    • +1
      JanforGore  
    • queenofit:

      Of course, if there was nothing lucrative about it for them they wouldn't be doing it.There are also more scientific studies being done regarding the corrolation between horizontal hydraulic fracturing and earthquakes. When you consider the amount of gallons of fracking fluid injected into such small areas plus the pressure, I could believe there is one. So, they set your water on fire, give you cancer and then literally shake your entire world... and they get rich from it. And wilderness areas as well? They should be off limits period. At the rate we are going we will have nothing left for our children. That should never be acceptable. Good to see you here.

    • 11 months ago
  • Milieu
  • JanforGore
    • +5
      JanforGore  

    • This doesn't just poison forests, but the species that live in them. What the hell are they thinking? Leave our wilderness areas alone! Fracking needs to be outlawed... everywhere. It is obvious this is toxic to our ecosystems and us.

      "the effects of land application of fracking fluids on a quarter-acre section of the Fernow Experimental Forest within the Monongahela National Forest. More than 75,000 gallons of fracking fluids, which are injected deep underground to free shale gas and then return to the surface, were applied to the assigned plot over a two day period during June 2008."

      THIS IS OUT OF CONTROL.

      So, all your "anti-regulation" whiners.... would you drink that water?

    • 11 months ago
  • Gravity_Man
    • 0
      Gravity_Man  
    • JanforGore:

      Now Jan. You know you can't protect those species until they are 1st whittled down enuff to be called "endangered". That's the way it works => cookie crumbles first THEN GLUE HUMPTY DUMPTY BACK TOGETHER, NOT THE REVERSE.

      Come on Jan, Come on. This is Environment101-level.

    • 11 months ago
  • JanforGore
  • Gravity_Man
  • Fishinflick
  • JanforGore
  • Gravity_Man
    • 0
      Gravity_Man  
    • JanforGore:

      Yez-z-z-z-z, and that fire is fuelless engines. That's why no one mentions my engine systems, ever. My combustion-less engines are a raging fire the hemlock of Socrates in the flesh.

      I imagine right now the crude oil execs are backing the Mighty Engine (MYT) full steam ahead because SOME SALES VASTLY TRUMPS NO SALES AT ALL.

    • 11 months ago
  • Gravity_Man
    • +2
      Gravity_Man  
    • JanforGore:

      Virginia's Senators vote AYE!!! From Jim Webb VA today, presumably from a well-lit cave fire perspective =>

      A Step Towards Energy Security in Virginia

      This week I introduced legislation that would allow energy exploration and production off Virginia’s coast and ensure that Virginia benefits fully from its coastal resources.

      My Virginia Outer Continental Shelf Energy Production Act of 2011, co-sponsored by Senator Mark Warner, would guarantee the Commonwealth receive its fair-share of profits from energy exploration and expand Virginia’s oil and gas leasing area to more accurately reflect our coastline. A portion of this revenue would be dedicated to land and water conservation efforts for Virginia, and remaining funds would finance priorities for the Commonwealth such as transportation and other infrastructure improvement projects.

      Exploring the energy potential of our Outer Continental Shelf is merely one component of a comprehensive national policy to reduce energy costs for consumers and our nation’s dependence on foreign oil. To achieve energy security, we must also invest in developing safe nuclear power, clean coal technologies, renewable energy production and conservation measures.

      I will continue to support policies that promote fair energy costs, reduce our nation’s dependence on foreign energy sources and maintain a firm commitment to protecting our natural environment.

      To read more: http://hamptonroads.com/2011/07/webb-warner-push-start-offshore-oil-and-gas-expl...

      Pigs-at-the-Trough-Alert, Pigs-at-the-Trough-Alert, macacas oops.

    • 11 months ago
  • queenofit
    • +1
      queenofit  
    • Image
    • JanforGore:

      "So, all your "anti-regulation" whiners.... would you drink that water?" Heck NO, they won't drink the water, and the regulators who said in Gasland there is nothing wrong with the water also refused to drink the water. This is so distressing to me, as usual, my question "how do these folks sleep at night?" and like you say, what are they leaving for our children to bear? I am so disgusted. Greed is the worst of the 7 deadly sins, by far. When is enough, enough? When we have tilled the planet and have scraped every bit of living matter from it. Oh, and of course folks will say "we, those of us who love this beautiful planet" we want to move back to the dark ages and live like cave dwellers. Hey, bring it on, I would rather live in a cave and know we are not harming the entire eco-system, than continue down the path we are heading.

      On another note; a little bit of good news, I listened to an interview with a top Navy official on the Dianne Rehm Show where (even they) are beginning to see the value of going solar and cutting down on fossil fuel. http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-07-05/environmental-outlook-military-and-... Now that is pretty cool stuff right there.

    • 11 months ago
  • queenofit
  • Gravity_Man
    • +1
      Gravity_Man  
    • queenofit:

      You would go bonkers crazy if you knew how my dry waterwheel works (anywhere). It's a pinball machine that fires the balls back at itself, fired through Levers that magnifies the Power, a device that outputs more electricity than takes to run it.

      hahahaha I better leave you alone, you might explode. No one deserves to explode on a FRIDAY AFTERNOON.

    • 11 months ago
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