We are being as fractured as the shale beneath our feet.

There was a two minute time limit, and this guy speaks quickly, but he doesn't go over the time limit. He tells about how his family's property has been negatively impacted by Marcellus Shale operations. The operator is Shell Appalachia. It is their first instance of thermogenic methane migration since purchasing East Resources. He says that predrill tests showed his family's well water used to be pristine and that now it has thermogenic methane in it. Also, his family's pond was contaminated and he said over two dozen amphibians died in his pond. He states that the DEP currently has the authority to order the leaking wells to be fixed then plugged, but will not act on its authority. This was at the (federal) Dept of Energy Subcommittee on Natural Gas hearing in Washington County, PA, on 13 June 2011.

Royal Dutch Shell to be tasked over fracking at shale gas conference

A senior Shell General manager Jan-Willem Eggink, will be confronted over Shell's plans to frack for shale gas in the Karoo when he speaks at a conference in Johannesburg next week.

Shell's proposals to use hydraulic fracturing (fracking) will be challenged by Treasure the Karoo Action Group (TKAG) and other concerned organizations at the 2011 Africa Gas and LNG Summit in Johannesburg on 19 - 22 July.

Eggink is expected to champion his company's continued pursuit of the right to use hydraulic fracturing technology despite the South African government's moratorium on its use.

Fracking is controversial: France has banned it completely while the US Senate has requested the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to re-investigate the environmental and social impacts of the technology. The EPA report is expected in 2012.

TKAG Chairman Jonathan Deal - who will attend the Santon conference to confront Shell in a public forum - said that fracking technology needs a rigorous evaluation that takes into account a number of technical, environmental, social, cultural and economic considerations.

"This form of fracking — horizontal fracking — is relatively new. Shell cannot state categorically that its action will not have a deleterious impact on the Karoo's fragile underground water supplies because they simply do not know. The decision to frack is irreversible — if damage occurs, it cannot be undone."

Deal said that Shell needs to understand that its actions could irrevocably damage the Karoo. He recently met with Vuyisile Booysen, Chairman of the Karoo Shale Gas Forum (KSGF), the mandated representatives of the local Karoo community, and the two parties have agreed to approach the issue of fracking in a spirit of "mutual co-operation".

"We intend to work with KSGF to investigate these issues on behalf of all the people of the Karoo, too make sure that the voice of the community is heard and that the future of their children are not threatened," said Deal.

"There have been too many examples of environmental degradation and social health issues linked to areas where fracking has occurred," said Deal. "We cannot just rush into this. If Shell and other oil and gas companies are granted licences to explore or to produce without a comprehensive cost vs benefit evaluation of fracking's affect, we could face a social and environmental disaster that would devastate the Karoo and its people."

TKAG has asked that the Department of Energy take the EPA's report into account and has requested that the Department make public the committee members' names appointed to examine the impact of fracking. It also requests that the committee includes experts from the Departments of Water and the Environment.

Shell and the ANC

From this video it is CLEAR that Shell and the ANC has come a long way together.

Since the government is mainly ANC members, and since the government is going to make the call on this issue, we must be sure that the decision will be made on a 100% FACTUAL basis, and not on a LOYALTY basis.

Exactly what is the relationship between Shell and the ANC??????

Another well blow-out

Dalby well blow out sent gas 90m in air: landholder

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By James Nason23 May 2011

UPDATE:

Arrow Energy has this afternoon advised that it has successfully stemmed the flow of water and gas from a leaking well on the property of Tom O'Connor on its Daandine field.

A statement from Arrow said the well had been capped and secured.

Arrow said it had commenced an investigation into the cause of the incident which is expected to take approximately a fortnight.

Arrow said it would also assist in any Government review of the incident. In addition, and would ensure that a summary of its investigation will be shared with stakeholders "to
ensure a better understanding of the incident and measures in place which aim to prevent the risk of re-occurrence."

Earlier, the property owner at the centre of the Coal Seam Gas well blowout told beefcentral.com the leak was causing gas and CSG water to shoot 40 metres into the air.

Tom O’Connor runs an irrigated and dryland grain and cattle growing operation, including a feedlot, at Daandine west of Dalby.

He said Arrow Energy had constructed 12 gas wells on his property since 2006, and this was the fourth time a gas well incident had occurred on his property. None had been of this scale though.

He said the incident occurred when contractors were trying to bring a CSG well into production.

“The pressure beat them and blew the top off it, and gas and salty water has been going in the air since 9am yesterday morning.”

“I didn’t see it at the start but they tell me it was going 80 to 90 metres in the air.”

The blowout occurred on cleared grazing country that was recently cutter-barred. An exclusion zone had been established around the area, and he had not been able to get close enough to see where the water was going or how large an area it had covered.

Saline water can render agricultural country unproductive.

“It is still going on, they have had a few attempts to stop it,” Mr O'Connor said at 10:30am.

Western Downs Regional Council mayor Ray Brown was at the scene and Mr O'Connor said the premier Anna Bligh had also been calling “every hour” to stay abreast of the situation.

“The priority is getting it stopped. They have all trucks and rigs trying to stop it, they have had three or four goes but I think the pressure is beating them.

“They are talking about changing pumps and hoses to try and stop it.

“They have got health and safety here, they have got ambulances here, they just have to stop it somehow.”

Mr O’Connor said this was the fourth incident involving a gas leak from a CSG well on his property, but none had been on this scale.

“We have had lots of incidents with Arrow Energy, don’t start me,” he said.

He had also previously been involved in a court action against Arrow Energy involving a dispute over the placement of a pipeline on his property.

Mr O'Connor expressed frustration at the apparent lack of regulatory controls over the industry and protections for landholders.

“It is up to the Government to make sure they do it properly. I run cattle and grow crops. This is not my job to be talking to the media and working out how to fix a gas and water leak.

“It is not my job to make sure they are doing it right, it is the Government’s job, and this industry is about to explode all over Queensland.”

Basin Sustainability Alliance chairman Ian Haylor told beefcentral.com the incident reinforced the BSA’s view that the coal seam gas industry was beyond the control of State and Federal regulators.

“There are no Government standards for drilling gas wells in Queensland, which is hard to believe,” he said.

“Apparently they are being developed, but it is another case of everything being done too late.”

“It just shows a total lack of care and consideration of the gas industry

“This farmer has had a number of incidents on his property, leaking gas wells, fittings blowing off, a pipeline that had a mixture of gas in it.

“As far as this goes, there is obviously a serious lack of safety standards in this process.”

Arrow Energy is currently conducting CSG community consultation sessions with landholders around southern Queensland and will hold its next session at Cecil Plains on Wednesday.

http://www.beefcentral.com/p/news/article/95

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Aus feeling strain, 60 day moratorium imposed there over land use.

State freezes exploration licences for new mining.

Sean Nicholls; Ben Cubby

21 May 2011

A 60-DAY freeze on new exploration licences for coal, coal seam gas and petroleum has been announced by the NSW government in a push to resolve the escalating conflict between farmers, miners and conservationists over land use.

The need for a moratorium was questioned by the state's mining industry, which said billions of dollars in investment were at stake, but it said it broadly supported the development of a new approach to avoid conflict over valuable land.

The Minister for Planning, Brad Hazzard, announced the initial stage of the government's strategic regional land use policy yesterday, which was promised before the state election.

Under transitional arrangements, exploration licence applications after the moratorium will need to be exhibited for public comment for the first time and applications for extraction licences must be accompanied by an agricultural impact statement.

An 11-member reference group comprising representatives of business, agricultural, environment and Aboriginal groups will be established to advise on the development of the final policy.

It will be based on the establishment of regional strategic plans to set out a ''tailored approach'' for each region, to be established within 12 months.

The first of them will target conflict hotspots such as the Hunter Valley and Upper Hunter, Liverpool Plains and the southern highlands.

Mr Hazzard said the new policy would be ''fair dinkum, honest and transparent'' but described its development as a ''balancing act''.

He said business might ''wonder'' about the new policy but it would provide business with greater certainty.

Under the previous policy, exploration licences were granted without a rigorous analysis of their appropriateness, leaving companies open to disappointment when they progressed to applying for an extraction licence.

''It might have been all right 200 years ago to start whacking in a bit of mining somewhere and a bit of this and a bit of that,'' Mr Hazzard said.

''But as the state grows and as the population grows, the intensity for conflicts is just there every day. We have no choice. I think this will prove to be a policy that will become a blueprint for every other state in the country.''

The acting chief executive of the NSW Minerals Council, Sue-Ern Tan, welcomed more transparency in the assessment of mining leases, but opposed the 60-day freeze.

''It is not clear what this moratorium will achieve and we will be seeking further information from the NSW government,'' she said.

But the moratorium was appreciated by some farmers who have been caught up in the mining debate because minerals have been found under their land.

Among them is the Narrabri grazier Tony Pickard, who first heard about a plan for the state's biggest coal seam gas operation when he saw a map on a government website, with red dots indicating the proposed coal seam gas wells on his property.

''I just saw a map of my land, with dots on it - that was the first I heard of the plan because the company hadn't told me,'' Mr Pickard said.

Eastern Star Gas, a company chaired by the former deputy prime minister John Anderson, plans to sink up to 550 coal seam gas wells in the Pilliga Scrub area about 20 kilometres south of Narrabri. Its plan is being scrutinised by the state and federal governments.

An Eastern Star spokesman, Peter Fox, said a moratorium on mining on agricultural land would not affect the project, because the area spanned by the gas wells covered non-agricultural land and this could be developed first.

Mr Fox said Mr Pickard would be approached with a compensation offer if the plan was approved, but it would not want to force anyone to have their land mined.

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/state-freezes-exploration-licences-for-new-mining-20110520-1ewos.html

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/state-freezes-exploration-licences-for-new-mining-20110520-1ewos.html#ixzz1N6KjgWXl

Fracking Fluid in River

Fracking Fluid Drums Found In Arkansas Creek

May 20th 2011By Michael_Hibblen

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Hydraulic fracturing fluid being reclaimed at a natural gas well site near Burlington, Pa. (AP)

Hazardous materials crews have removed more than 20 barrels labeled as containing chemicals used for natural gas drilling from a creek in the north Arkansas town of Clinton.

Mayor Roger Rorie is upset because they were in Choctaw Creek, which provides the town's drinking water and were located just a few miles upstream from its water treatment plant.

“It goes straight to our water intake and it's fracking fluids in 55 gallon drums,” Rorie said. “We don't know how much of it has leaked out.”

He says a fisherman discovered the barrels, which emergency crews then removed.

“I'm here at the site right now where they're pulling the barrels out of the water and everyone's here just waiting on another boat to come up,” Rorie said. “The boats are going up and down the stream now picking up more barrels.”

Authorities are trying to determine if they contained the chemicals identified on the labels and whether Clinton's water has been contaminated.

“What is on the barrels or what the labels that we're seeing indicate are surfactants and lubricants and those are commonly used in the drilling operation,” said Cecillea Pond-Mayo, a spokeswoman for the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality.

“We are going to be taking samples of the water and testing specifically for those contents.”

Mayor Rorie alleges that there has long been misconduct by companies involved in natural gas drilling in the area.

“I've been telling people what's been going on here for three years and no one has listened to me. Now we've got proof,” Rorie said.

He said the barrel labels contain lot numbers and other data that can be used to trace where they came from.

“We don't know what company dumped them in the water,” Rorie said, “but we're going to find out. We're going to prosecute.”

The ADEQ spokeswoman says the barrels might not have been intentionally dumped.

“There's a possibility that flooding may have contributed to the barrels actually being in the creek," said Pond-Mayo. "We don't know that for certain, but there is a possibility because of rising water, if the barrels were stacked on land, that that could have contributed to that. But that's something we're going to have to look at.”

The Arkansas Department of Health will determine whether Clinton's drinking water has been compromised.

http://www.kuar.org/kuarnews/23773-fracking-fluid-drums-found-in-ark-creek.html

Utica shale video