Presentation by Injection Well Owner/Geologist/Oil Association Treasurer

An injection well owner/geologist/oil and gas industry spokesman gave a presentation in Mansfield, Ohio, offering information about fracking. The January 31, 2012 online issue of the News Journal provides a summary of the event. If interested, check out the full text at this link: Industry Expert Answers Questions on Fracking.

Also in the News Journal's January 31, 2012 issue - an article providing more information about the community's efforts to get a moratorium on the pending injection wells. To read the full text of the second article visit:

Washington Township Calls for Moratorium on Deep Wells

President Obama & Shale Gas Drilling

President Obama pledged support for shale gas drilling in his recent State of the Union Address, with the important detail of a focus on safety. According to a report on Reuters, he also "pressed for" and end to the tax breaks the oil and gas companies currently enjoy.

Representatives of oil companies, citing that regulations would force costs to rise, had previously called for regulation to fall to each state. 

Without actually declaring to be for or against this type of drilling, Obama's common sense approach to the topic of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas acknowledges the need for the industry's expansion as an economic force, while also addressing the health and safety concerns of innocent citizens affected by the practice. 

If you would like to check out the Reuters article mentioned, click here.

A Few New Links About Fracking

I apologize for the brevity of this post, but I want to share these links tonight.

The first link is to an article about the debate over fracking brine injection wells slated for Mansfield, Ohio's industrial park. The News Journal article has a couple of errors in the data presented, so be sure to check out the comments at the end of the article as one of the readers presented the correct data.

The second link is a Scientific American article describing the "fugitive methane" from hydro-fracture natural gas drilling (greenhouse gas emissions.)

The third link is an EcoWatch article, reviewing a Cornell study that found a link between fracking brine and farm animal mutations and mortality

The fourth link I want to share with you tonight goes to an Ohio.com article. This article explains that the federal Agency for Substances and Disease Registry, which is part of the US CDC,  says the water contamination in two Medina, Ohio wells (which are now potentially explosive) near fracking sites appears to be connected to the drilling, even though the ODNR says there is no connection. ASDR also noted that "current conditions are likely to pose a public health threat."

Mansfield Ohio Resists Fracking Brine Dumping

The city of Mansfield is reevaluating the plans to allow construction of two fracking brine injection wells, slated to be installed in the industrial park within city limits.

According to a report on Reuters, city officials plan to require testing, paid for by the company bringing in the brine - Preferred Fluids Management, and therefore cutting into the company's bottom line.

A 2004 law complicates matters for the city because the law hands jurisdiction to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR).

Possibly, the city of Mansfield and other affected communities will find some assistance by looking to the past, to a higher court, such as the findings of the 1974 Belle Terre Supreme Court case where the Court upheld a community's right to create zoning on certain quality of life issues on a case-by-case basis:

•  "The Court listed as considerations bearing on the constitutionality of zoning ordinances the danger of fire or collapse of buildings, the evils of overcrowding people, and the possibility that "offensive trades, industries, and structures" might "create nuisance" to residential sections."

Marcellus at the Polls Facebook Page

A new Facebook page, Marcellus at the Polls, has been started to share information about fractivist-friendly politicians running in Marcellus States. The page invites politicians planning to submit their own words regarding where they stand on this hot topic - a nice idea because readers will have the facts straight from the sources.

I'm sharing the link because it seems like a nice way to share information.

Marcellus at the Polls

CDC Scientist Says More Studies Needed to Determine Drilling's Health Impact

At least one CDC scientist is listening to the questions of citizens affected by hydro-fracture gas drilling and fracking brine that results from the drilling.

While careful not to speak against the process, at least this CDC scientist is saying the possibility of health hazards from fracking exist, and that research is underway.

Youngstown Ohio's 4.0 Earthquake Linked to Fracking Brine Dumping

It can be hard to picture why brine dumping would cause earthquakes. The term dumping implies getting rid of waste by, well, dumping it. It does not paint an accurate picture of how the brine is forced back into the ground under the same kind of high pressure used to extract the natural gas during the hydraulic fracturing drilling process. That pressure forced into unstable ground, according to geologists studying the problem, is causing earthquakes.

Recent history has found earthquakes increasing near fracking brine injection sites in Arkansas, West Virginia, Colorado and Texas. This past weekend, scientists announced that Ohio has joined the party - so to speak - with its 11th earthquake in the past 8 months. The earthquake this weekend was a 4.0 magnitude in the Youngstown/West Akron area and was felt as far away as Michigan, Ontario, Pennsylvania, and New York.

Before the onset of fracking brine dumping into injection wells in this community, earthquakes were extremely rare.

"James Zehringer, director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, announced the closing of two injection wells in Youngstown Township owned by Northstar Disposal Services LLC and operated by D&L Energy Inc." (Ohio.com)