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Fracking is old technology

December 19, 2012, 10:35
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Asjylyn Loder, Bakken, cornucopianism, crude oil, fracking, hydraulic fracturing, lies about fracking, Marcellus, North Dakota, oil extraction, peak oil, PR, propaganda, shale oil, techno-worship, technology, tight gas, tight oil, United States oil production

America’s latest oil rush was spurred by new technology that has made drilling faster, cheaper and better at unleashing oil from rock formations,…

That is false. Fracking (the oil guys always called it ‘fracing’) is old technology. Many decades old. But it’s an expensive way to get oil, relatively speaking. So it hasn’t been prudent to frack/frac for shale oil until the overall situation reached a certain point where the price of a barrel of crude was likely to remain above the cost of extraction. In other words, the fracking boom in the U.S. does not signal the death of Peak Oil. It is in fact part and parcel of a new era wherein cheap oil is a memory, a much more expensive era in energy. Perhaps that is why the misinformation campaign has been in overdrive.

via Asjylyn Loder, “American Oil Growing Most Since First Well Signals Independence,” Bloomberg..

Spreading disinformation through the media is even older technology.

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Livestock in fracking regions

December 1, 2012, 17:01
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: ambient air testing, Bakken, Benzene, butane, chloride, chloroform, chromium, drill pad, fracking fluid, fracking wastewater, Marcellus, methane, North Dakota, propane, Schilke, shale gas, shale oil, strontium, sulfates, toluene, well testing

After drilling began just over the property line of Jacki Schilke’s ranch in the northwestern corner of North Dakota, in the heart of the state’s booming Bakken Shale, cattle began limping, with swollen legs and infections. Cows quit producing milk for their calves, they lost from 60 to 80 pounds in a week and their tails mysteriously dropped off. Eventually, five animals died, according to Schilke.

Ambient air testing by a certified environmental consultant detected elevated levels of benzene, methane, chloroform, butane, propane, toluene and xylene – and well testing revealed high levels of sulfates, chromium, chloride and strontium. Schilke said she moved her herd upwind and upstream from the nearest drill pad.

via Livestock falling ill in fracking regions | Center for Investigative Reporting.

From February:

The Pennsylvania farmers I spoke with have lost cows, calves, a horse, a couple dozen chickens. Many of the animals succumb in the same way: seizure-like symptoms, gasping for breath and a quick wasting away. A Rottweiler and a Dalmatian also fell ill and died.

via http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-08/fracking-s-toll-on-pets-livestock-chills-pennsylvania-farmers-commentary.html

Gives new meaning to the term ‘tail risk.’

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North American Shale Plays

March 22, 2012, 00:32
Filed under: maps | Tags: Bakken, Barnett Shale, Eagle Ford, energy, energy production, fracking, hydraulic fracturing, Marcellus, Niobrara, oil production, Piceance Basin, shale gas, shale oil, tight gas, tight oil

Via EIA.

click to enlarge

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Pennsylvania Fracking Law: If a doctor thinks an illness is fracking-related, he/she is forbidden from talking to the patient or other doctors about it

March 19, 2012, 17:58
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: fracking, hydraulic fracturing, Marcellus, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania fracking law, shale gas, shale oil, tight gas, tight oil, Tom Corbett

And the public at large of course. “Non-disclosure agreement.” According to this report anyway.

… If a company does release information about what is used, health care professionals are bound by a non-disclosure agreement that not only forbids them from warning the community of water and air pollution that may be caused by fracking, but which also forbids them from telling their own patients what the physician believes may have led to their health problems. A strict interpretation of the law would also forbid general practitioners and family practice physicians who sign the non-disclosure agreement and learn the contents of the “trade secrets” from notifying a specialist about the chemicals or compounds, thus delaying medical treatment.

The clauses are buried on pages 98 and 99 of the 174-page bill, which was initiated and passed by the Republican-controlled General Assembly and signed into law in February by Republican Gov. Tom Corbett.

via Fracking: Pennsylvania Gags Physicians | Truthout.

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Shortage of fracking sand