Are You Ready for Some Toxic Waste, Lewisville?

As Lewisville gets ready to approve its first gas well in the Barnett Shale, I think we need to know what will be going down the hole to fracture these wells.

This post is not yet finished - I still want to add some links and resources.

What is Hydraulic Fracturing?
To understand why gas well operators pump chemicals down in the Earth, you need to know why they "Fracture" a well. When a gas well is first drilled in the shale, all you have is a long horizontal hole with a steel pipe in it. The surface area of the shale exposed to the pipe is very small. To open up the rock's pores and make some channels for the gas to flow through, they pump a mostly water and sand mixture down the hole at tremendous volume and pressure. They may pump as much as 7 million gallons down one hole. This basically forces open channels through the rock, finding the smallest cracks and blasting them open with water pressure.

When the rocks are opened up, a "proppant" - silica sand - is pumped down with the water so that it wedges into the cracks and keeps them open when the water is allowed to "flow back".

So far, so good - doesn't sound very dangerous if it's just water and sand, right?
The problem is that it's not just water and sand. They pump down a proprietary blend of chemicals to dissolve open pores in the rock, make the water more "slippery" so that it gets into the cracks better, and for other reasons that a geologist or chemist could probably explain. In some cases, a gelled mixture is used because it suspends and delivers the proppant better. In those cases, other chemicals are used to break the gel, leaving the proppant trapped in the rocks.


Keep in mind that this mixture is not just contained inside the drill pipe. It goes out into the rock formation, and is basically uncontrollable down there. It could find a crevice and leave the shale migrating up into the ground water. In fact, this has happened quite a bit. Well casings could fail as they age.

What kind of Chemicals?
Well, WhosPlayin has obtained a list of fracturing chemicals compiled by the State of Pennsylvania, which sits on a formation similar to the Barnett called the Marcellus Shale. There may be some differences in formulations between the Barnett and the Marcellus, but since Texas is more oil and gas friendly, operators down here are not talking. (Hat tip to Sandy Long of the River Reporter for passing this list along)

Full List
Not yet clasified (WTF?):
- 2-butoxyethanol
- 2-methyl-4-isothiazolin-3-one
- 5-chloro-2-methyl-4-isothiazotin-3-one
- Acetic Anhydride (Heroin manufacturing)
- Alphatic Acid (non-specific organic acids - non aromatic)
- Ammonia Persulfate (oxidizer, gel additive)
- Aromatic Ketones
- Boric Acid (Roach killer, cross-linker for frac gels)
- Boric Oxide
- Butan-1-01
- Diesel (use discontinued - supposedly)
- Ethane-1,2-diol
- Ethoxylated Octylphenol (surfactant coating for a breaker)
- Ethylene Glycol (Anti-freeze)
- Hemicellulase Enzyme
- Hydrochloric Acid (Muriatic Acid)
- Magnesium Nitrate (oxidizer)
- Monoethanolamine (Toxic, corrosive surfactant)
- Polyethoxylated Alkanol (1)
- Polyethoxylated Alkanol (2)
- Polysaccharide (gel additive)
- Potassium Hydroxide (Caustic Potash)
- Prop-2-yn-1-01
- Propargyl Alcohol
- Propylene
- Sodium Hydroxide (Lye)
- Tetramethylammonium Chloride a.k.a tetramine Chloride (toxic)

Organic Solvents:
- Alphatic Alcohol Polyglycol Ether
- Aromatic Hydrocarbons (Benzene, Toluene, Xylene)
- Ethoxlated Alcohol
- Ethoxylated Alcohol
- Ethylhexanol
- Glycol Ethers
- Hydrotreated light distillate
- Hydrotreated Light Distilled
- Isopropanol, a.k.a. Isopropyl Alcohol, a.k.a. propan-2-ol (Rubbing Alcohol)
- Methanol (Wood Alcohol)
- Mineral Spirits (Paint Thinner)
- Petroleum Distallate Blend
- Petroleum Distillates

Pesticides/Biocides:
- Dazomet (pesticide, fungicide, extreme aquatic toxin)
- 2.2-Dibromo-3-Nitrilopropionamide (Biocide)
- Formaldehyde (Toxic embalming fluid, disinfectant, fixative)
- Glutaraldehyde (Toxic embalming fluid, disinfectant, fixative)


Food Chemicals:
- Acetic Acid (Vinegar)
- Citric Acid (The acid in Lemon Juice)
- Ferrous Sulfate Heptahydrate (Iron Supplement, water treatment)
- Guar gum (Emulsifier, thickener, laxative)
- Polyethylene Glycol Mixture (laxative, personal lubricant, toothpaste, Dr. Pepper)
- Potassium Carbonate (Potash, Salt of Tartar)
- Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda)
- Sodium Chloride (Salt)
- Sucrose (Sugar)

Sands:
- Mesh Sand (Crystalline Silica)
- Diatomaceous Earth
- Crystalline Silica: Cristobalite
- Crystalline Silica: Quartz


By Stage:
Frac Stage #1
Hydrochloric Acid
Propargyl Alcohol
Methanol
Acetic Acid
Acetic Anhydride

Frac Stage #2
Methanol
Boric Oxide
Petroleum Distallate Blend
Polysaccharide
Potassium Carbonate
Sodium Chloride
Potassium Hydroxide
Ethylene Glycol
Boric Acid
Sodium Bicarbonate
Monoethanolamine

Frac Stage #3
Hydrotreated light distillate
Ethoxylated Alcohol
Glutaraldehyde
Dazomet
Sodium Hydroxide
Methanol
Diesel (use discontinued)
2,2-Dibromo-3-Nitrilopropionamide
Polyethylene Glycol Mixture
Mesh Sand (Crystalline Silica)

What happens to this stuff?
Out in the country, in places like rural Wise County, the flow-back water - about 70% of what goes in - is allowed to come out of the ground and collect in open pits, where the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) mostly evaporate. VOCs in the air contribute to the area's non-attainment status, and can cause aggravation of chronic pulmonary problems like Asthma and C.O.P.D. (Emphysema).

Whatever is left is then hauled by tanker trucks to so-called "Saltwater Disposal Wells", where it is pumped back down into the Earth into layers thought not to contain any usable water source.

These disposal wells, as well as open pits have been made illegal in Lewisville due to their danger, but that just means Lewisville will have more truck traffic as huge heavy water trucks come each day to gather more water.

If it were dangerous, wouldn't it be regulated?
Unfortunately, it was politically expedient for Congress to exempt most oil and gas activities from the Clean Water Act. Materials that you or I would get hauled off to jail if we dumped on the ground, may be exempt from these laws if it has come into contact with an oil or gas well.

Further, since these chemicals are considered a trade secret of the oilfield service companies like Halliburton and Schlumberger, they are not required by state law to disclose what is in these formulas. What little we know is usually discovered AFTER someone dies or becomes seriously ill, or when a water well becomes so contaminated that it cannot be used for anything.

But the Driller Says the Mixture is 99% water and sand!
They may be right. But when you're dealing with a million gallons of it, that last 1% would be 10,000 gallons. Some of this stuff is very dangerous even in small concentrations. You don't want it getting in your soil or your water.

But I Grew Up in the Oil Patch, and I'm not Dead Yet!
Though fracturing has been around since 1948, the type of hydraulic fracturing being used in the Barnett Shale is relatively new - only a few years old. It could be that the chemicals used out in the West Texas Permian basin are not the same. Or it could be that because of the way these chemicals work over time to cause chronic diseases that are impossible to trace back definitively.

But our city doesn't have pits or injection wells.
Accidents still happen. Tanks overflow, trucks crash, hoses leak. Underground water moves around uncontrollably. Earthquakes happen. Whether or not this stuff affects anyone in our generation, it will still be there for thousands of years. Talk about your long legacy....

What Can We Do?
We need to get control over what goes down the hole. Neighborhood groups dealing with oil and gas lease offers need to get assurances from the operator about what will go down the hole. Frac water recycling systems are available. Require your driller to use them.

Citizens need to talk to their city councils and state legislators about getting adequate laws about disclosure, community protection, and precisely what chemicals are allowed to go down-hole.

Anti-drilling?
We're not. But we're damn nervous about how some projects have turned out. Although we hope that renewables like wind and solar power will take the forefront sooner rather than later, we realize that natural gas can be a bridge fuel while we rework our infrastructure. We think that technology ought to allow for safe responsible drilling that will allow us to tap our energy resources without foolishly squandering the "holy trinity" of natural resources: Soil, Air, and Water.