GasLand: Fracking and The Halliburton Exemption

[ronpaulhawaii]

So, I went to the Woodstock Film Festival last night and watched the documentary, "GasLand"

http://www.hbo.com/video/video.html/?autoplay=true&vid=1099970&filter=all-documentaries&view=null

It is on HBO now (incl. On-Demand) and will be released to theaters in Sept. The filmmaker and Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY22) were there.

The film documents environmental issues surrounding the (Halliburton developed) drilling technique known as Hydraulic Fracturing (Fracking). It paints a grim picture of destroyed watersheds.

YouTube - No fracking way

What happens is that the fracking cracks the rock layers and allows both gas and the fracking fluid to enter groundwater, resulting in tap-water that can be lit on fire.

YouTube - CAN YOU DO THIS WITH YOUR TAP WATER?

This whole situation raises some issues in my mind. ISTM that this is a pressing issue and cannot wait for the true Free-Market to return to do something about it.

The Halliburton exemption in the 2005 Energy Bill allows the drilling companies to keep secret (IP) the chemicals used in the process, which drastically reduces both the affected land-owners ability to sue for damages and the doctors to treat the sick.

Hinchey has a 1 paragraph bill in Congress to rescind the exemption, and NYS has a moratorium bill making its way through the Statehouse.

One problem raised in the film is the complicity of the EPA and other regulatory agencies in this mess. It is obvious to me that more regulation is not the answer, and I feel a film like this will rile up the greens to vote for more regulation and then think they have done what they could, while the underlying problems continue, (similar to neo-cons putting on a yellow ribbon, to satisfy their conscience, and ignore the rising suicide rates in our military).

So, like most things, I wonder, How do we get there from here? How do we insure that water supplies are protected and affected residents have recourse to address issues in the EPA era? Can we support the repeal of the exemption as we work to eliminate the EPA? Is a 1 year moratorium, while these issues are studied, an acceptable stop-gap? Is this an issue that can show the r3VOLutions ability to work in a post partisan fashion? Are there better solutions?

Thoughts?

Thanks

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_fracturing

 

[LibForestPaul]

Only questions:

1. The compounds used are kept secret or not-public. i.e. EPA knows but is not disclosing information.
2. Monitoring stations?
3. Liability exemptions as well?

 

[ronpaulhawaii]

Only questions:

1. The compounds used are kept secret or not-public. i.e. EPA knows but is not disclosing information.
2. Monitoring stations?
3. Liability exemptions as well?

1. Kept secret. The EPA seems to be stonewalling in the film with one whistleblower speaking out. The chemicals were supposedly released in congressional testimony but were already being revealed by investigative activists...

2. Efforts are now ramping up but, AFAIK, there are no monitoring stations. The problem with that is that by the time a monitoring staion revealed a problem it is too late for that groundwater source.

3. Not sure, but the secrecy clause seems to be having the same effect.

 

[TheeJoeGlass]

Gasland

I watched Gasland and the thing that bothered me the most was the lack of planning and design behind the Natural Gas wells. They was no design, they put them anywhere and in all different ways. Hardly any safety measures at all from what I could see. This is a terrible situation.

 

[ronpaulhawaii]

I watched Gasland and the thing that bothered me the most was the lack of planning and design behind the Natural Gas wells. They was no design, they put them anywhere and in all different ways. Hardly any safety measures at all from what I could see. This is a terrible situation.

Yup, this is a huge issue, that the tyrants will use to their advantage, and I hope we can counter them with solutions showing that the r3VOLution is already on it.

 

[ronpaulhawaii]

92 views, and only two comments... Hmmmm...

 

[ronpaulhawaii]

Our an-cap wing rarely misses an opportunity to expound upon their solutions. I wonder why they haven't commented here?

 

[dannno]

Ya I've always thought that watersheds should not be severely altered by the owners in any way that alters the watershed up or downstream. Watersheds support ecosystems which some land owners may be dependent upon for survival.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

Thoughts?

Lots of them...

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=250756
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=250970

 

[Brian4Liberty]

Our an-cap wing rarely misses an opportunity to expound upon their solutions. I wonder why they haven't commented here?

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showpost.php?p=2767960&postcount=13

 

[ronpaulhawaii]

Lots of them...

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=250756
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=250970

Thank you I guess I didn't search hard enough :o

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showpost.php?p=2767960&postcount=13

I don't see how this applies in the cases where the problems are outside the contract signers property. The specific law that is protecting the corporations from liability seems to be the Halliburton exemption

I'll agree that Corportist Government is the culprit. What I am looking for is discussion of short term solutions. I wonder that the enemies of liberty will use this issue to rile up the "greens" and provoke knee jerk reactions that will be worse than the problem. I don't know if the producers are pulling a Michael Moore and am waiting for a response from a friend who works for BP in the Gas fields.

Again, I appreciate the links and now understand the lack of interest...

 

[rancher89]

We watched this the other night, horrible stuff. "I can't believe they made it legal to pump poison into the ground." says my husband (referring to Cheyney's commission...

I couldn't watch the whole thing, too depressing. The narrator didn't help things either.....

Reminds me of the rivers and lakes in and around the coal towns in W PA, SW NY and NE OH, not to mention WVA when I was growing up. At times the rivers would be burning..... you had to hold your nose or breath through several layers of cloth to keep from choking....

"Regular" people don't count to these people, it's obvious.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

Again, I appreciate the links and now understand the lack of interest...

Plus the only people interested are the ones that have actually seen it already. Kind of like the multiple threads on the new movie Inception, that I haven't opened yet...

 

[ronpaulhawaii]

From the comment section of: http://www.pickensplan.com/boonecam/2010/07/29/we-cant-afford-this/

Paul M. Rybski Says:
July 31st, 2010 at 1:26 pm
Like others in this list, I am aware of the problems of methane contamination of ground water sources caused by hydraulic fracturing of shale deposits. Most of my family now lives in Pennsylvania, where groundwater contamination by gas recovery wells is becoming really serious: http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/ne...wp-residents-thirst-for-gas-well-fix-1.365743 The contamination in virtually all cases is not direct but instead due to inadequate sealing of the well as it is drilled. I encourage everyone to look at http://www.columbiapetroleum.com/Websites/columbiapetroleum/templates/cpTheme/video/hsd.html because it is clear where in the drilling and well-sealing process the contamination of the groundwater aquifer will occur. That said, somehow we must be able to explore safely for energy resources while protecting the groundwater resources essential to all of us. That will require additional regulatory oversight and development of techniques both to correct a damaged wellbore and to remove methane contamination from the pumped groundwater at its point of use. Conventional water softening systems are used to remove mostly calcium oxide/hydroxide and iron from "hard" groundwater. Such systems have been in use since the early years of the 20th century, and no one thinks of them as the decontamination systems they really are. But the common single-stage water softening systems replace calcium ions with sodium ions, rendering the softened water unsuitable for drinking, particularly for those with high blood pressure. A second-stage of purification is necessary to remove the sodium ions and make the water drinkable. In order for us to become energy-independent by using all of our natural gas resources, including those that require shale fracturing that will contaminate ground water resources, we will have to develop domestic and industrial-scale "water softening" systems that remove dissolved methane from groundwater and that prevent methane accumulations that can lead to water well explosions, one of which is described in the article referenced above. Paul M. Rybski, Physics, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater

 

[DamianTV]

I just saw the whole video, and I am completely blown away by how bad of a catastrophe Fracking can be. We have an enviornmental crisis on our hands (according to the video) even bigger than Fukushima Reactor Meltdown, and yet, not one peep out of the MSM.

If you havent seen it, go find a way to get a copy of Gasland and watch it. Odds are that it WILL affect you and your health directly.

 

[Zatch]

Gasland is propaganda

‘Gasland’ film is full of (ahem) naturally occurring methane
By: Barbara Hollingsworth | Local Opinion Editor | 06/23/10 3:00 AM
Pennsylvania’s secretary of the environment says “Gasland” – an award-winning HBO documentary about the natural gas industry in which he appears – is “fundamentally dishonest” and “a deliberately false presentation for dramatic effect.”

John Hanger, the state official who was the former head of the environmental group Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future, called filmmaker Josh Fox “a propagandist,” pointing out that the film inaccurately depicted him as a tool of the natural gas industry despite the fact that he fought for stricter regulations of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” a technique used to free natural gas trapped in rock formations.

“There are real problems in this industry,” Hanger told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “But this movie certainly contributes to more public misunderstanding.”

Fox’s documentary, which won a Sundance Film Festival award, depicts numerous environmental disasters he claims are caused by fracking, including water taps bursting into flames.

But industry experts say that after 60 years of hydraulic fracturing in one million wells, there are no proven cases of ground water contamination from the process.

The American Petroleum Institute also points out that in Colorado, where the flaming faucets were filmed, “the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission devoted significant staff and financial resources to thoroughly investigate these cases, and specifically excluded natural gas drilling as a cause of flammable water in each. The commission determined that, in reality, the source was naturally occurring methane.”

So it seems that “Gasland” is full of gas – just the wrong kind.



Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs...hem-naturally-occurring-methane#ixzz1S3TMnq8u

 

[Zatch]

The State of Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation
Commission on Gasland:

http://cogcc.state.co.us/library/GASLAND DOC.pdf

 

[wrestlingwes_8]

Gasland is propaganda

It's amazing how people will try and defend this horrible process and the tyrants that run it. Also, since when do we trust everything elected offficials tell us? Yeah, they NEVER have any conflicts of interest...

Any way you slice it, fracking is down right terrible; end of story.

 

[buck000]

Counterpoint: http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2011/01/28/t-boone-pickens-talks-energy-on-the-daily-show/

T Boone has fracked 3,000 wells in his life, without an issue.

Maybe he means 'fracked' in the Battlestar Galactica sense of the word.

 

[angelatc]

It's amazing how people will try and defend this horrible process and the tyrants that run it. Also, since when do we trust everything elected offficials tell us? Yeah, they NEVER have any conflicts of interest...

And it's also amazing how many people eagerly swallow every anti-energy piece of propaganda that the left spews. The guy who made Gasland admitted he left out certain facts in order to slant his piece.

If the cavemen had environmentalists, we'd still be living in the stone age.