• Thousands of spills at US oil and gas fracking sites
    8 replies, posted
[QUOTE]Up to 16% of hydraulically fractured oil and gas wells spill liquids every year, according to new research from US scientists. They found that there had been 6,600 releases from these fracked wells over a ten-year period in four states. The biggest problems were reported in oil-rich North Dakota where 67% of the spills were recorded. The largest spill recorded involved 100,000 litres of fluid with most related to storing and moving liquids. [/QUOTE] [url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-39032748[/url]
[quote]The largest spill recorded involved 100,000 litres of fluid with most related to storing and moving liquids. [/quote] 590 barrels of oil for anyone who is trying to figure out the numbers. In other words, if you ever lived in a house with a swimming pool, the pool is the amount of oil spilled. It's ridiculously easy to clean this up by the way.
[QUOTE=JoeSkylynx;51858648]590 barrels of oil for anyone who is trying to figure out the numbers. In other words, if you ever lived in a house with a swimming pool, the pool is the amount of oil spilled. It's ridiculously easy to clean this up by the way.[/QUOTE] It says fluids, not oil. It could easily be water or fracking fluid. [editline]23rd February 2017[/editline] Pretty sure it's mostly gas anyway.
[QUOTE=download;51858654]It says fluids, not oil. It could easily be water or fracking fluid.[/QUOTE] Which makes this an even bigger pain in the ass to debate about. If it's oil, it'll be cleaned with a matter of hours, while the other liquids require soil excavation.
[QUOTE=JoeSkylynx;51858660]Which makes this an even bigger pain in the ass to debate about. If it's oil, it'll be cleaned with a matter of hours, while the other liquids require soil excavation.[/QUOTE] So call Joe Bloe's Backhoe Service out there. Joe will have it cleaned up before the EPA clipboard warriors arrive on site.
[QUOTE=download;51858654]fracking fluid.[/QUOTE] You know what's in the fluid they pump into the ground, right? Beyond the water and sand some really nasty chemmicals.
Even if its "only" 590 barrels, 1 liter of oil can contaminate a million liters of water. [URL="http://oilcare.org.uk/what-we-do/impacts-of-oil/"]http://oilcare.org.uk/what-we-do/impacts-of-oil/[/URL]
[QUOTE=Sprelle;51858793]Even if its "only" 590 barrels, 1 liter of oil can contaminate a million liters of water. [URL="http://oilcare.org.uk/what-we-do/impacts-of-oil/"]http://oilcare.org.uk/what-we-do/impacts-of-oil/[/URL][/QUOTE] It also depends where the spills are, whether it's actually deep underground leaks or above-ground. Given the quote "Equipment failure was the greatest factor, the loading and unloading of trucks with material had a lot more human error than other places." I'm inclined to think it's mostly top-level, which as JoeSkylynx suggested, should be easy to clean up, though the details aren't all there as the article jsut focuses on the numeric aspect.
Still if it's near an aquifer, it can be monumentally more difficult to contain.
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