Deep Shale Drilling Industrializes Communities
With only a few deep shale wells drilled, some Ohioans might doubt that shale gas/oil production is “massive industrialization,” but information from communities with 3-10 years experience of shale drilling (PA, WV, ND, CO, TX, WY) suggest otherwise.
Gas/oil permeates cracks in the shale; therefore, if industry predictions of a “Saudi Arabia” under Ohio are accurate, every leased sq. mile will have a well pad. (Ohio counties average 450 sq.mi.).
4-12 wells can be drilled per 3-8 acre pad. Production requires access roads, pipelines, compressors, separators, dehydrators, storage tanks, reserve pits. Pipelines connecting wells average 100 ft. right-of-ways and every 50-100 miles a 3-5 acre compressor station.
Fracking each well once requires 3,000,000 - 8,000,000 gallons of water, 15,000 - 80,000 gallons of chemicals, 1500 tons of sand, all transported & stored. [The UN calculates the average American uses 5-13 gallons/person/day for drinking, cooking, cleaning. A single well ‘fracking’ = 20 to 50 people’s lifetime water requirement.]
Transportation requires 1,000 truck trips over 4-8 weeks (24/7) for each well. Therefore, 25-50 wells within a single county = 24/7/365 days of truck traffic for 2-6 years. Industry calls this a “temporary disturbance,” but plans to drill 1,000 shale wells per year for the next 4-10 years in Eastern Ohio.
Air & water pollution (including diesel, sulphur dioxide, arsenic, benzene, toluene, formaldehyde, methane) from truck traffic, compressor stations, pipe and storage tank leaks, permitted emissions, cement failure, traffic accidents, will occur during drilling & production.
Cuttings from 2-4 miles of vertical plus horizontal drilling contain toxic injected chemicals, Radium-226 and heavy metals normally occurring in the shale. Cuttings are currently buried on-site or transported to landfills.
Waste fluids (containing the injected chemical and drill-cutting contaminants) require transportation in heavy tankers to injection wells for (we hope) permanent disposal.
Production of shale gas/oil typically drops by half in the first year. Analysis of Texas shale wells demonstrates the only way to ensure constant production is to keep drilling new wells.
A risk analysis on existing shale wells over 4 states predicts 2-4% will fail.
Most people would call this massive industrialization.
Questions: Email
Deep Shale Drilling Industrializes Communities
With only a few deep shale wells drilled, some Ohioans might doubt that shale gas/oil production is “massive industrialization,” but information from communities with 3-10 years experience of shale drilling (PA, WV, ND, CO, TX, WY) suggest otherwise.
Gas/oil permeates cracks in the shale; therefore, if industry predictions of a “Saudi Arabia” under Ohio are accurate, every leased sq. mile will have a well pad. (Ohio counties average 450 sq.mi.).
4-12 wells can be drilled per 3-8 acre pad. Production requires access roads, pipelines, compressors, separators, dehydrators, storage tanks, reserve pits. Pipelines connecting wells average 100 ft. right-of-ways and every 50-100 miles a 3-5 acre compressor station.
Fracking each well once requires 3,000,000 - 8,000,000 gallons of water, 15,000 - 80,000 gallons of chemicals, 1500 tons of sand, all transported & stored. [The UN calculates the average American uses 5-13 gallons/person/day for drinking, cooking, cleaning. A single well ‘fracking’ = 20 to 50 people’s lifetime water requirement.]
Transportation requires 1,000 truck trips over 4-8 weeks (24/7) for each well. Therefore, 25-50 wells within a single county = 24/7/365 days of truck traffic for 2-6 years. Industry calls this a “temporary disturbance,” but plans to drill 1,000 shale wells per year for the next 4-10 years in Eastern Ohio.
Air & water pollution (including diesel, sulphur dioxide, arsenic, benzene, toluene, formaldehyde, methane) from truck traffic, compressor stations, pipe and storage tank leaks, permitted emissions, cement failure, traffic accidents, will occur during drilling & production.
Cuttings from 2-4 miles of vertical plus horizontal drilling contain toxic injected chemicals, Radium-226 and heavy metals normally occurring in the shale. Cuttings are currently buried on-site or transported to landfills.
Waste fluids (containing the injected chemical and drill-cutting contaminants) require transportation in heavy tankers to injection wells for (we hope) permanent disposal.
Production of shale gas/oil typically drops by half in the first year. Analysis of Texas shale wells demonstrates the only way to ensure constant production is to keep drilling new wells.
A risk analysis on existing shale wells over 4 states predicts 2-4% will fail.
Most people would call this massive industrialization. Questions: Email
Educate Yourself & Your Neighbors
DVD 1: The Effects of Shale Gas Drilling: Speakers: James Northrup & Dr. Anthony Ingraffea
Dr. Ingraffea is a Professor of Fracture Mechanics Engineering, Cornell University. He has done major research for leading corporations in the Oil and Gas Industry as well as for the National Science Foundation, and twice has won the National Research Council Award for Research in Rock Mechanics. At Cornell he has won many awards for his outstanding teaching.
James L. Northrup has been in the energy business for over twenty yearsas a planning manager at Atlantic Richfield (ARCO), an independent oil and gas producer, and owner of onshore and offshore drilling rigs; he attended Brown University, has an MBA from the Wharton School of Business, and is a member of the board of directors of Otsego 2000.
DVD 2: Health Vs. Wealth: The Hidden Costs of Shale Gas Extraction and Production
Economic impacts of shale gas drilling: Economist, Dr. Janette Barth. (37 min)
Natural radioactivity in shale: Nuclear Physicist, Dr. Marvin Resnikoff. (approx. 10 min)
Social impacts on Bradford County, PA, Sociologist, Dr. Simona Perry. (approx. 30 min.)
Analysis of economic viability of shale gas wells: Financial analyst, Dr. Deborah Rogers. (approx. 30 min.)
Ecological and human health impacts: ecologist, Dr. Sandra Steingraber. (approx. 30 min.)
Air pollution and its effects on health: Dr. Theo Colburn. (30 min.)
“Why Here? Why Now? What Then?” a slide presentation introducing the basics of shale gas drilling.
“Regulations” – a slide presentation introducing Ohio state and Federal law regulating petroleum extraction and production.
“Introduction to CELDF” – A short introduction to the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund’s “Democracy School” which “explores the limits of conventional regulatory organizing and offers a new organizing model that helps citizens confront the usurpation by corporations of the rights of communities.
These DVDs are produced by Silver Frog Studios, at cost, with the permission of all speakers, for educational purposes. Email your mailing address (requesting a single DVD, or a set) to . Donations of $5 for one or $10 for the set of two are gratefully accepted. Checks may be made out to Concerned Citizens Ohio & sent to Gwen Fischer, POB 133, Hiram OH 44234.
Educate Yourself & Your Neighbors
DVD 1: The Effects of Shale Gas Drilling: Speakers: James Northrup & Dr. Anthony Ingraffea
Dr. Ingraffea is a Professor of Fracture Mechanics Engineering, Cornell University. He has done major research for leading corporations in the Oil and Gas Industry as well as for the National Science Foundation, and twice has won the National Research Council Award for Research in Rock Mechanics. At Cornell he has won many awards for his outstanding teaching.
James L. Northrup has been in the energy business for over twenty yearsas a planning manager at Atlantic Richfield (ARCO), an independent oil and gas producer, and owner of onshore and offshore drilling rigs; he attended Brown University, has an MBA from the Wharton School of Business, and is a member of the board of directors of Otsego 2000.
DVD 2: Health Vs. Wealth: The Hidden Costs of Shale Gas Extraction and Production
Economic impacts of shale gas drilling: Economist, Dr. Janette Barth. (37 min)
Natural radioactivity in shale: Nuclear Physicist, Dr. Marvin Resnikoff. (approx. 10 min)
Social impacts on Bradford County, PA, Sociologist, Dr. Simona Perry. (approx. 30 min.)
Analysis of economic viability of shale gas wells: Financial analyst, Dr. Deborah Rogers. (approx. 30 min.)
Ecological and human health impacts: ecologist, Dr. Sandra Steingraber. (approx. 30 min.)
Air pollution and its effects on health: Dr. Theo Colburn. (30 min.)
“Why Here? Why Now? What Then?” a slide presentation introducing the basics of shale gas drilling.
“Regulations” – a slide presentation introducing Ohio state and Federal law regulating petroleum extraction and production.
“Introduction to CELDF” – A short introduction to the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund’s “Democracy School” which “explores the limits of conventional regulatory organizing and offers a new organizing model that helps citizens confront the usurpation by corporations of the rights of communities.