Fracking in Colorado - What are the Impacts?

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Fracking in Colorado - What are the Impacts?
Fracking in Colorado

 What are the Impacts?
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Fracking in Colorado - What are the Impacts?
Source(s) of data

• The source of all Colorado oil and gas related information was
  derived from the COGCC’s website and subsequent
  documentations per specific well API.

• All COGCC data is un-redacted, thus remaining true in its
  original form and can be found on the COGCC’s website.

• Data compilation was conducted from 2011-present.

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Fracking in Colorado - What are the Impacts?
Types of observed & recorded oil and gas
   development impacts in Colorado

   Soil Contamination, ground and surface water
   contamination/impacts
   Drinking Water impacts
        Aquifer impacts
        Well – water impacts

     Vegetation impacts
     Wildlife & habitat impacts
     Agricultural impacts
     Air quality degradation
     Human impacts
     Mechanical failures

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Fracking in Colorado - What are the Impacts?
What does this mean to the people of Colorado?

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Fracking in Colorado - What are the Impacts?
Colorado Wells by County

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Fracking in Colorado - What are the Impacts?
Active Well Density Map
Larimer & Weld Counties
Fracking in Colorado - What are the Impacts?
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Fracking in Colorado - What are the Impacts?
Active Well Density Map
Larimer & Weld Counties II
Yellow Areas are designated as oil & gas ‘Exploratory Units’

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Fracking in Colorado - What are the Impacts?
What Would 100,000 Wells Look Like?

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Fracking in Colorado - What are the Impacts?
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What does a ‘fracking pad’ look like?
 What does Weld County look like?

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Halliburton tanker trucks
‘forcing’ water, chemicals and
proppants at extremely high
pressures down the wellbore(s)
to ‘frac’ or ‘fracture’ the shale
formation to release liquid
natural gas or oil.

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What are Some of the Parts
             of an Active Well?
~6CFM methane & hydrocarbon vapor release per actuator per separator
-EnCana

Minor source vs. major source VOC release

Aggregate well-bores per pad would indicate a major hydrocarbon vapor
release source.

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~ 2 tons of hydrocarbon vapors              ~16 tons of
escape per tank battery per year - EnCana   hydrocarbon
                                            vapors released
                                            annually from
                    8                       this specific site
                                                        - EnCana

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WHAT IS PRODUCED WATER?

Produced water is the water that is
‘produced’ during the fracking
operations. Produced water is
classified as Industrial Waste and may
contain highly toxic and carcinogenic
chemicals such as: benzene, xylene,
toluene, ethylbenzene, naturally
occurring radioactive materials
(NORM) and many other potentially
dangerous and or lethal chemicals.

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What is Produced Water?
• Produced water is a term used in the Oil and Gas industry to describe
  water that is produced along with the oil and gas production.

• The ‘produced water’ is reported to contain dozens of toxic chemical
  additives, to include but not limited to; sands and various inert products.

• Over 750 chemicals that make up frac-fluids have been identified. Many
  chemicals remain in the ‘produced water’ and are subsequently disposed
  of.

• Hydraulic fracturing was exempted from the Safe Drinking Water Act & the
  Clean Water Act in the Energy Policy Act of 2005

• Frac-fluid is considered proprietary and is not regulated under the Safe
  Drinking Water Act

• Produced water is considered a liquid industrial waste

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Water Contaminations - 1,000 COGCC spill/release reports studied

   42.7%         appear to result in groundwater contamination – COGCC
    3.1% appear to result in surface water contamination – COGCC
    57.1% appear to have a berm failure – COGCC

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                                                                    Source: COGCC, Jan 2012
What’s the real cost of water?

I’m simply amazed that we are using our
most precious natural resource, (water) to
mine for something far less valuable…
                                 - Phil Doe

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Produced Water – Industrial Waste Spill

2005                                             26
Weld County Oil Spill
2,100 gallons spilled       420 gallons unrecovered   groundwater depth 3-4’

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Weld County Oil Spill
2,100 gallons spilled   420 gallons unrecovered   groundwater depth 3-4’

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Weld County Oil Spill

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Unreported
spill/release?

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Are historic cement well-bores safe for re-entry?
                                              Weld County

The Case of Mr. Anderson’s water well and the Laramie-Fox Hills Aquifer

Weld County – August 1st 2009 Mr. Anderson Filed a complaint with the State alleging an impact to
his water well was caused from a mining operation ‘that uses hydraulic fracturing.’

State tested Mr. Anderson’s water well and found it had been impacted from the mining operation
with thermogenic methane and toluene.

State issued a notice of alleged violation to the Oil and Gas operator. It was determined that the
wellbore had a hole in the production casing.

State determines that the oil and gas operator’s operations caused contamination of the Laramie-
Fox Hills Aquifer and Mr. Anderson’s water well from the hole thus contaminating groundwater.

State issued fines of $66,000 – later reduced to $46,200

Well was then plugged and abandoned by the oil and gas operator.

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                                                                                       ORDER NO. 1V-349
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Water Contaminations - 1,000 spill/incidents studied

42.7%         appear to result in groundwater contamination – COGCC
 3.1% appear to result in surface water contamination – COGCC
 57.1% appear to have a berm failure – COGCC

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Where does all of the potentially ‘toxic produced’ water go?

   • Class II Injection Wells
      – Large open formations underground that the oil and gas industry
        pumps produced water/industrial fracking waste water down into
        where it is to remain forever.
      – A waste injection site has been found that holds up to 1.26 trillion
        gallons of industrial fracking waste water.

   • Pumping into streams and rivers, lakes and open bodies
     of water.
   • Agriculture – crops, livestock
   • Spraying on dirt roads or out in the field

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Well Pad

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Rifle, Colorado
• Evaporation Pits
  – Some pits can hold million gallons of produced water and evaporates
    tens of thousands of gallons of toxic produced water per day –
    displacing the chemicals from the water to the air.

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Fugitive Emissions Risks
• Includes hydrocarbon gases released from leaks and from the evaporation
  of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from open pits

• VOCs such as benzene, ethylbenzene, cyclopentane and dozens of other
  released chemicals pose a long term health risk to workers and local
  communities.

• If methane emissions are contained in a building, there is a
  risk of an explosion. Florence CO case…

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Jan 13, 2011 -COGCC requested
emergency funding
for explosive levels of methane
seeping into occupied residential
homes from plugged and abandoned
oil and gas wells .
                       ORDER NO. 1E-10

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Fugitive Emissions
         Dirty Secret

v
i
d
e
o
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                         source: txsharon
Fugitive Emissions
     Dirty Secret

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Zoning and Hazards
Multiple active oil & gas wells near an elementary school, public playground
and residential area in Firestone, CO WELD COUNTY

      Is there a risk of fugitive emissions to the public?

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Are Cement Well-bores Really Safe? Weld County

The Case of Mr. Andersons water well and the Laramie-Fox Hills Aquifer

Weld County – August 1st 2009 Mr. Anderson Filed a complaint with the State alleging an impact to
his water well was caused from a mining operation that uses hydraulic fracturing.

State tested Mr. Anderson’s water well and found it had been impacted from the fracking
operation with thermogenic methane and toluene.

State issued a notice of alleged violation to the Oil and Gas operator. It was determined that the
wellbore had a hole in the production casing.

State determines that the oil and gas operator caused contamination of the Laramie-Fox Hills
Aquifer and Mr. Anderson’s water well from the hole thus contaminating groundwater.

State issued fines of $66,000 – later reduced to $46,200

Well was then plugged and abandoned by the oil and gas operator. Operator researcher , Don
Libhart states that 12 additional wells in the area have been open to the water zone for 30 years.
What is the state doing to protect the aquifer in this area?
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                                                                                       ORDER NO. 1V-349
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Wildlife trails leading to and from water sources

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Abandoned Oil & Gas Wells
     How many are there and are they a risk?

Colorado has 129,073
 oil and gas wells of all
 statuses

~47,000 ACTIVE oil & gas
 wells

~90,000 abandoned/historic
 wells (many await re-entry)

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COGCC HAS 17 INSPECTORS FOR COLORADO
                              EQUALS 2,764 WELL
47,000 ACTIVE OIL             INSPECTIONS PER YEAR, PER
& GAS WELLS                   INSPECTOR

82,073 INACTIVE               82,073 ABANDONED WELLS
WELLS                         MUST BE VISITED ONCE PER
                              YEAR ALSO…

                              EQUALS 4,827 ABANDONED
                              WELL INSPECTIONS PER YEAR,
                              PER INSPECTOR

                              TOTAL ANNUAL INSPECTIONS
                              PER INSPECTOR = 7,591
129,073 wells in
Colorado – all
statuses                              IS THIS A FAILURE?
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General Citations
•     All data sourced by COGCC unless otherwise noted.
•     All images and research by Shane Davis unless otherwise noted
•     All GIS maps courtesy of COGCC (except predictive map S. Davis)
•     Dirty Secrets Video - txsharon blog
•     Slide #34 WTFrack.org image
•     Air quality testing - NOAA
•     Do not distribute without permission(s)

Shane Davis                                                             Executive
Committee ‘At-Large’ Sierra Club – Rocky Mountain Chapter
shanedv@yahoo.com

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