Spill reported in North Dakota
Source: UPI
Unknown amount of brine reaches area creek.
By Daniel J. Graeber Follow @dan_graeber Contact the Author | Jan. 9, 2015 at 6:40 AM
BISMARCK, N.D., Jan. 9 (UPI) -- The North Dakota government said there's been a release of material used to produce oil and gas into a creek in the heart of the country's oil developments. ... The Health Department said it was notified by oil company Summit Midstream of a release of an unknown amount of brine into a creek downstream from Blacktail Lake in Williams County.
Energy companies inject brine, or salt water, to improve oil and gas production from shale deposits.
"An environmental contractor for the responsible party is on scene for cleanup and remediation," the Health Department said in a statement Thursday.
The Environmental Protection Agency said brine may contain toxic metals and radioactive substances that can be "very damaging" to the environment and public health if released on the surface.
Read more: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2015/01/09/Spill-reported-in-North-Dakota/8961420802743/
unknown amount of brine
I can't find the story in the local papers. I hate to use a wire service, but that's what I've got.
ETA: there's a picture accompanying the article. That's wasn't taken in January in North Dakota.
Sopkoviak
(357 posts)What a weird shaped "brine spill"
mahatmakanejeeves
(57,586 posts)I took one look at the part of it that was at the article, and seeing greenery, knew it wasn't North Dakota in January. Perhaps UPI will find someone more appropriate.
I hope a local paper comes up with something.
Thanks for the catch.
Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)no ducking idea what is in the toxic brew injected into the ground and now in the water supply...except we know they use salt.....what is wrong with folks who do not care about their water supply?
Stargazer99
(2,598 posts)OldRedneck
(1,397 posts)Analysis shows fracking results not what industry claims; well and field outputs are dropping, the rush is about to end:
http://www.desmogblog.com/2014/10/27/drilling-deeper-post-carbon-institute-fracking-production-numbers
http://www.postcarbon.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Drilling-Deeper_FULL.pdf
Fracking has huge social costs:
http://documents.foodandwaterwatch.org/doc/Social_Costs_of_Fracking.pdf
Fracking kills local communities:
http://fracdallas.org/docs/photos.html
http://www.dangersoffracking.com/
I could go on and on but you get the picture.
bobalew
(322 posts)It's called Frack Focus, but you have to know which well it is, and the time of the frack. It usually is not reported until 2 months after the well comes out of confidential status, way after the fact. You track the wells by permit date, and the North Dakota Industrial commission provides a website that provides most of the info as to what well, & permits are actively being drilled. It takes a great deal of skill & data mining talent to get the data for which you are looking, but it is possible. Otherwise we are truly treated like mushrooms, kept in the dark & fed BS...
Don't expect the local papers to cover it, the local are kept ignorant of any negative Oil company activity until it's really obvious to the owners. The containment pond, is a earth built, plastic lined berm pond, in which the store the frac fluid. That probably breached, due to poor contraction, if that is the issue here.
Check out the Frack focus site, and look at previous Frack fluid reports by that company to get the formulas. There's more sand & ceramic micro beads in the frack fluid than salt.
On the other hand, the real problem is the need to dispose of the well water products from the Oil pumping, as that is the main source of salt water. There's usually equal parts of Oil, salt water & Natural gas liquids recovered from a frakked well, and that may be the source of the "Brine". This is usually re-inserted back into the earth via a deep disposal well, which casings are supposed to be heavily regulated. These wells may be Old frakked wells, that have ended production. If that breached, or leaked, you could get a fairly bad contamination & land spoilage event, and that has happened before, many times.