Related Research Articles
Brine is a high-concentration solution of salt in water. In diverse contexts, brine may refer to the salt solutions ranging from about 3.5% up to about 26%. Brine forms naturally due to evaporation of ground saline water but it is also generated in the mining of sodium chloride. Brine is used for food processing and cooking, for de-icing of roads and other structures, and in a number of technological processes. It is also a by-product of many industrial processes, such as desalination, so it requires wastewater treatment for proper disposal or further utilization.
Toxic waste is any unwanted material in all forms that can cause harm. Mostly generated by industry, consumer products like televisions, computers, and phones contain toxic chemicals that can pollute the air and contaminate soil and water. Disposing of such waste is a major public health issue.
Deicing is the process of removing snow, ice or frost from a surface. Anti-icing is the application of chemicals that not only deice but also remain on a surface and continue to delay the reformation of ice for a certain period of time, or prevent adhesion of ice to make mechanical removal easier.
K-65 residues are the very radioactive mill residues resulting from the uniquely concentrated uranium ore discovered before WW II in Katanga province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Fracking in the United States began in 1949. According to the Department of Energy (DOE), by 2013 at least two million oil and gas wells in the US had been hydraulically fractured, and that of new wells being drilled, up to 95% are hydraulically fractured. The output from these wells makes up 43% of the oil production and 67% of the natural gas production in the United States. Environmental safety and health concerns about hydraulic fracturing emerged in the 1980s, and are still being debated at the state and federal levels.
Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) and technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) consist of materials, usually industrial wastes or by-products enriched with radioactive elements found in the environment, such as uranium, thorium and potassium and any of their decay products, such as radium and radon. Produced water discharges and spills are a good example of entering NORMs into the surrounding environment.
Shale gas is an unconventional natural gas that is found trapped within shale formations. Since the 1990s a combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing has made large volumes of shale gas more economical to produce, and some analysts expect that shale gas will greatly expand worldwide energy supply.
Produced water is a term used in the oil industry or geothermal industry to describe water that is produced as a byproduct during the extraction of oil and natural gas, or used as a medium for heat extraction. Produced water is the kind of brackish and saline water from underground formations that are brought to the surface. Oil and gas reservoirs often have water as well as hydrocarbons, sometimes in a zone that lies under the hydrocarbons, and sometimes in the same zone with the oil and gas. In geothermal plays, the produced water is usually hot. It contains steam with dissolved solutes and gases, providing important information on the geological, chemical, and hydrological characteristics of geothermal systems. Oil wells sometimes produce large volumes of water with the oil, while gas wells tend to produce water in smaller proportions.
Beaver Run Reservoir is a reservoir in Westmoreland County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, 23 miles (37 km) east of Pittsburgh. The elevation of Beaver Run Reservoir is 1,053 feet (321 m) above sea level.
Fracking is a well stimulation technique involving the fracturing of formations in bedrock by a pressurized liquid. The process involves the high-pressure injection of "fracking fluid" into a wellbore to create cracks in the deep-rock formations through which natural gas, petroleum, and brine will flow more freely. When the hydraulic pressure is removed from the well, small grains of hydraulic fracturing proppants hold the fractures open.
Fracking in the United Kingdom started in the late 1970s with fracturing of the conventional oil and gas fields near the North Sea. It was used in about 200 British onshore oil and gas wells from the early 1980s. The technique attracted attention after licences use were awarded for onshore shale gas exploration in 2008. The topic received considerable public debate on environmental grounds, with a 2019 high court ruling ultimately banning the process. The two remaining high-volume fracturing wells were supposed to be plugged and decommissioned in 2022.
Environmental impact of fracking in the United States has been an issue of public concern, and includes the contamination of ground and surface water, methane emissions, air pollution, migration of gases and fracking chemicals and radionuclides to the surface, the potential mishandling of solid waste, drill cuttings, increased seismicity and associated effects on human and ecosystem health. Research has determined that human health is affected. A number of instances with groundwater contamination have been documented due to well casing failures and illegal disposal practices, including confirmation of chemical, physical, and psychosocial hazards such as pregnancy and birth outcomes, migraine headaches, chronic rhinosinusitis, severe fatigue, asthma exacerbations, and psychological stress. While opponents of water safety regulation claim fracking has never caused any drinking water contamination, adherence to regulation and safety procedures is required to avoid further negative impacts.
The environmental impact of fracking is related to land use and water consumption, air emissions, including methane emissions, brine and fracturing fluid leakage, water contamination, noise pollution, and health. Water and air pollution are the biggest risks to human health from fracking. Research has determined that fracking negatively affects human health and drives climate change.
There are many exemptions for fracking under United States federal law: the oil and gas industries are exempt or excluded from certain sections of a number of the major federal environmental laws. These laws range from protecting clean water and air, to preventing the release of toxic substances and chemicals into the environment: the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, National Environmental Policy Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, commonly known as Superfund.
The Marcellus natural gas trend is a large geographic area of prolific shale gas extraction from the Marcellus Shale or Marcellus Formation, of Devonian age, in the eastern United States. The shale play encompasses 104,000 square miles and stretches across Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and into eastern Ohio and western New York. In 2012, it was the largest source of natural gas in the United States, and production was still growing rapidly in 2013. The natural gas is trapped in low-permeability shale, and requires the well completion method of hydraulic fracturing to allow the gas to flow to the well bore. The surge in drilling activity in the Marcellus Shale since 2008 has generated both economic benefits and considerable controversy.
Hydraulic fracturing is the propagation of fractures in a rock layer by pressurized fluid. Induced hydraulic fracturing or hydrofracking, commonly known as fracking, is a technique used to release petroleum, natural gas, or other substances for extraction, particularly from unconventional reservoirs. Radionuclides are associated with fracking in two main ways. Injection of man-made radioactive tracers, along with the other substances in hydraulic-fracturing fluid, is often used to determine the injection profile and location of fractures created by fracking. In addition, fracking releases naturally occurring heavy metals and radioactive materials from shale deposits, and these substances return to the surface with flowback, also referred to as wastewater.
As a legal document, the broad form deed severs a property into surface and mineral rights. This allows other individuals or organizations other than the land owners to purchase rights to resources below the surface. These parties also receive use of surface resources — such as wood or water — to facilitate gathering the resources below ground. Based on English legal theory but an American creation from the early 1900s, the broad form deed was used by land and coal companies in many states within the Appalachian Region.
Duck Creek Energy and Nature's Own Source are deicer and oil industry companies in Brecksville, Ohio owned by David Mansberry.
The Salina Group or Salina Formation is a Late Silurian-age, Stratigraphic unit of sedimentary rock that is found in Northeastern and Midwestern North America. Named for its Halite beds, the phrase "Salina Group" was first used as a descriptive term by James D. Dana in 1863.
References
- 1 2 3 Kuzydym, Duane Pohlman & Stephanie (18 February 2019). "Serious questions about radioactive element in highway de-icer". WKRC. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) tested AquaSalina for radioactivity and, in June and July of 2017, issued reports finding, on average, AquaSalina contains radium levels at 300 times higher than the federal standard for safe drinking water.
- 1 2 3 4 McCarty, James F. (10 February 2019). "Radioactive road deicer rules under review by Ohio legislature; debate over public safety continues". The Plain Dealer.
Members of the state legislature rejected the reports' findings, introducing a law last year that would ease regulations on AquaSalina, treating it as a commodity rather than toxic waste derived from oil- and gas-drilling operations. The law would also prevent ODNR from imposing any additional requirements.
- 1 2 "Brecksville-based energy company wins defamation lawsuit". Akron Beacon Journal. November 11, 2013.
Duck Creek Energy, based in Brecksville, Ohio, created AquaSalina(TM) in 2003 and received approval for its use as a deicer and dust suppressant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources in 2004.
- ↑ Hopey, Don (July 2, 2018). "Radium found in commercial roadway de-icing, dust suppression brine". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Among the sites where the ODNR obtained AquaSalina for testing in June 2017 was a Lowe's home improvement store in Canton, Ohio, and a hardware store in Hartville, Stark County, south of Akron.
- 1 2 Burger, Beth (October 23, 2019). "Environmentalists question use of radioactive brine waste to treat roads". The Columbus Dispatch.
Data from state testing shows that in at least one case there were 9,602 picocuries per liter for combined amounts of radium-226 and radium-228. The lowest level was 66. Environmentalists note that Ohio law allows no more than 0.005 picocuries of radium per liter of oil and gas fracking waste to be placed in landfills in the state. Yet state law allows for processed brine waste to be spread on Ohio's roadways without a cap on its radiation levels because the state claims it is a naturally occurring byproduct.
- ↑ Nobel, Justin (21 January 2020). "America's Radioactive Secret". Rolling Stone.
Meanwhile, Ohio is pushing forward with legislation to protect the practice of brine-spreading. State Senate Bill 165 would slash environmental safeguards and make it easier for products like AquaSalina to be developed. In Pennsylvania, Lawson's case had led the state's DEP to acknowledge brine-spreading violated environmental laws, and the practice was halted last year. But Pennsylvania House Bill 1635 and Senate Bill 790 unsuccessfully tried to greenlight brine-spreading again, and even restrict the DEP's ability to test products. In October, the state Senate passed the bill without debate; its fate remains up in the air in the state's House of Representatives.
- ↑ Shingler, Dan (1 December 2013). "Calling a deicer 'toxic' leads to heated exchanges". Crain's Cleveland Business.
The court cited the difference, saying the product 'contains' fracking water as opposed to saying it 'is' fracking water. Statements the women made that AquaSalina is "toxic" or that it contains harmful levels of benzene also did not result in a judgment against them, in part because the court said those were matters of opinion. But the court did rule that the women were wrong to tell others that AquaSalina is fracking water, and that they made statements they knew or should have known were false. It found the women sent emails and that 'statements that AquaSalina is "frac water" or a by-product thereof were published with actual malice.'