OT— There goes the fracking neighborhood.

641Dave · Jul 25, 2013

I'm not sure what goes on with a fracking operation but they drilled a well not long ago about a 1/4 mile from our home in the country.

Got word today that the well collapsed and there is a leak that they seem very concerned about. Seems access to the immediate area is restricted within a half a mile to only the railroad commission and halliburton.

Why would the area be off limits for a leak?

Is this because they are pumping something dangerous down the hole?

Just curious if anyone here knows what really goes on with these operations.

rustcollector · Jul 25, 2013

OT

Guessing that natural gas would be the leak? If so, the gas would be forced out of the well (area) and could reach combustible levels. I think natural gas is heavier than air and would "Pool" in low places similar to LP gas leaks.

Wheres Waldo · Jul 25, 2013

Are you on a well? That's real close to your
drinking water. On a successful fracking job, about
half the chemical 'soup' is recovered, and can
migrate to nearby wells. Some chemicals used are
ethylene glycol and formaldehyde, neither of which
I'd want. Methane is lighter than air, so it ought
not be a problem. Propane, which isn't found in
fracking, is heavier than air and can cause
explosions if it gets into a well or basement.

JEC · Jul 25, 2013

I too have gas wells(5 on same pad),less than a half a mile from my house. They"ve been there about 5 years and so far, no problems at all. We have well water, it"s always been crystal clear and it still is. We"ve always bought bottled water even before the fracking just because we"ve always felt that you never know what could be in there, but the well water still tastes good and is still crystal clear.
I have always been skeptical of fracking, so I"m not trying to sugar coat anything. Just hoping to give you some encouragement that sometimes it"s not always all bad. I was expecting alot more problems, and who knows in the future, but so far, the only inconvenience was with the big trucks when they started the fracking.
When the fracking crew is gone, the well itself, you would never know its there and my royalty checks are great.

641Dave · Jul 25, 2013

No well here but we are pretty much on the peninsula of the 5th largest lake in Texas, Richland Chambers reservoir, which supplies Tarrant County's water.

Maybe that's why they are reacting the way they are.

So far our only inconvenience has been the noise and traffic on our gravel road. ...and now, not sure what to expect.

Lyndon - AB · Jul 25, 2013

Depends a lot on the type of well they're messing with as to what could be leaking out. Could be sweet gas (natural gas), or could be sour gas. Would also more than likely be the mix of water, sand, and acids of various sorts that they pump down hole during a frac. I wouldn't want to be in the immediate vicinity,but at a 1/4 mile you should be safe. I don't know how they are down there, but here in Alberta, Halliburton is one of the best, they know how to deal with crap going wrong. Hopefully they can deal with it fairly quickly.

mb58 · Jul 25, 2013

What a coincidence! About eight miles north of me they were using carbon dioxide to pressure up some old oil wells when the earth collapsed around it and CD and salt water spread eveywhere. (This info from an anonymous employee)The area is now off limits to the public. All local roads are closed and guarded. They have hundreds of pieces of equipment and trucks coming and going day and night. You can see the tops of dieing trees from the main highway. One thing they got on their side is that the area is kinda secluded inside of a forested area. Only one news story has been done on it and the company spokesman gave the usual, "Nothing to see here folks, just move along." It"s all very hush-hush. It seems the company policies of today must be, "Give us another dollar. Damn the public and the enviroment!"

Anonymous-0 · Jul 25, 2013

They are not likely to want to talk about it if they have cordoned off the area - that's the second reason (safety first) they put the security in place. The stuff they put into the ground in a fracking operation is "proprietary" and ranges from water to some of the most poisonous industrial chemicals known.

1130Leo · Jul 25, 2013

If they have made people stay away, it is likely they hit a pocket of H2S (Toxic Gas) and until they stop the flow of it, anyone getting too close could suffer severe if not critical affects. They will take care of the problem, and resume. It happens, just like car accidents, clean up the scrap iron and move on.

1130Leo · Jul 25, 2013

Waldo, you are completely uninformed. The only way fluids from the fracturing process could ever get into surface water is if they pumped out of the well and then dumped it on the ground or into a creek, otherwise it is NEVER going to migrate thousands of feet back up into ground water, can't happen, if it could, our groundwater would be filled naturally with Gas and Oil migrating up from those very formations they are producing via wells from.

1130Leo · Jul 25, 2013

Actually Natural Gas is lighter than air and will go up into the atmosphere quickly, Propane is heavier, it could be either coming from the well, or just "Sour gas" which is H2S, toxic.

ben there · Jul 25, 2013

like Leo said,more n likely they hit sour gas...has nothing to do with whats going in to seal leak...i had a dose of sour gas once...believe me,once was enuff.

thesmoothedeere · Jul 25, 2013

I wonder whats next . If humans can mess up something i.e. nature , we will find a way to do it.

Wheres Waldo · Jul 25, 2013

There's a leak and he's only a quarter mile away. Don't know where the leak is; surface water ought not be in a water well. That's why some areas forbid it; too much chance of contamination.

1130Leo · Jul 25, 2013

Waldo, Rain which is surface water migrates down into our fresh water aquifer's, that's how so many farm chemicals get into our water wells, top down, not bottom up. Water well 100 to 200 feet deep in most areas, the wells being fractured are Thousands of feet below the fresh water, no way it can get into that water, if it could, it would be there already. Even the Department of Energy has proven it just does not happen. There are other countries that rely on Oil and Gas Money, they are funding the crazy groups making all these false statements to stop us from doing our own production.

bill mart · Jul 25, 2013

what if there is a leak in the well casing close to the surface ? bill

JerryS · Jul 26, 2013

My water well is about 1,500 feet from two fracked gas wells, and there has never been a problem. However, a guy I know who lives about five miles from me had 16 cattle die in one day after a fracking operation. Highest-priced beef he ever raised. Also, not long after, he went to work for Chesapeake.

OT— There goes the fracking neighborhood.

641Dave

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rustcollector

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Wheres Waldo

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JEC

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641Dave

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Lyndon - AB

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mb58

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Anonymous-0

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1130Leo

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ben there

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thesmoothedeere

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