Fracking your future (Aspen: transfer, cost of, food)

[delta07]

I'm a 6th generation native of Colorado with family roots going way back. While oil & gas production has been happening for a long time in Colorado, the recent surge in fracking is alarming. There are so many other renewable sources of energy that should be explored in the state, but instead the big O & G companies will exploit the land and communities to make a big profit.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by delta07

There are so many other renewable sources of energy that should be explored in the state, but instead the big O & G companies will exploit the land and communities to make a big profit.

Such as? Don't see enough water for hydro electric. You must be taking about building nuke plants.

You can't be talking about wind or solar as they are just scams to exploit the ignorant so big corporations like GE can make big profits.

[CosmicWizard]

@Andy.....You gotta be kidding me. Wind and solar power are scams in your view of the world. I am curious to know what makes those forms of power a scam in your mind? Scam or not, the solarium on the south wall of my house has been giving me FREE heat for the past 7 winters. Solar power is one scam I can live with! I would like to uncover a few more scams that save me money. Are you aware of any more good scams Andy?

[delta07]

OSHA fines 3 firms, finds workers at Parachute spill not protected - The Denver Post

[Idunn]

"We don't fully understand the scientific nature of some of these groundwater systems and until we do at a scientific level, I think the political process should step back and the industry process should step back until we get the science right and then make the decision." [1]


Not only does a good deal of oil development lie in the future of Colorado, as things stand, but there is already more in place than many may imagine.

Anyone having driven on the Western Slope in the vicinity of Parachute on I-70 will easily have seen some of this development. And perhaps all the more obvious at night with all the bright lights on the tall rigs. But much more of it is relatively hidden. Not only underground where the biggest changes are taking place, but in small fields scattered throughout the state.

The largest concentration, or at least what will be, is in northeastern Colorado, from the very edge of the mountains and urban Front Range running out north and east. Drive, for instance, not into the mountains and up along the Cache la Poudre River towards Cameron Pass, but east into the plains on CO 14 and one will see signs of this.

Indications are often subtle, in relatively small brown-colored oil storage tanks and the associated wellhead equipment of those installations already in place. And there are many of them. For as many as one might see from any major road, all the more found if taking some of the county roads often of dirt that mostly only locals know of. Then it becomes increasingly obvious that these installations are widely spread throughout.

Communities such as Longmont are fighting the state of Colorado to prevent the incursion of fracking near their homes. In more rural areas there would seem to be little opposition, and perhaps even willing acceptance. For if at times on state or federal land, closer to the Front Range and well beyond is primarily private farm or ranch land. So presumably the owners being paid some small compensation. Or maybe not, as if not also owning the mineral rights to one's property (and most do not) then these outfits can basically move in and do as they wish. But if these farmers have made such agreements, then possibly so with the devil of what may follow. For water is clearly vital and the lifeblood of any crop or operation out there. Should that be compromised then it is game over.

North of the Pawnee National Grasslands (being a misnomer as widely desecrated and not at all protected, but developed principally in ranching) and south of the Wyoming state line, there are many oil installations as well. These may not involve fracking, as what apparently is excess natural gas is being flared off with large eternal flames into the sky from every one in operation.

But to the ground and water again. Unlike the European Union, the United States has had few qualms in instituting fracking as quickly as possible with little consideration or oversight. Presumably with the view that anything that goes wrong can be sorted out later, or papered over, or just excused.

Australia, its government being big into resource extraction, would have much the same view. Yet a proposed coal seam oil operation in New South Wales could potentially be stymied by one of the smallest of creatures.

They are stygofauna, and if few having heard of them, still widespread throughout the world. They are minute creatures residing in groundwater, whether that be in a cave or aquifer. They are ancient, having existed far longer than mankind. And for being invisible to us, still play a vital role. They filter and determine the quality of groundwater. They eat plankton and bacteria. In maintaining the spaces between small soil particles they also help keep water flowing.[2] They are also quite sensitive to the quality and ecological health of their environment.

Or, organisms which would not take kindly, nor able to tolerate, the toxic soup routinely pumped in quantity down any fracking well. And while this may be of small concern to those who believe "progress" must go one regardless, in retrospect it may. We are reminded even now in our troubled forests and rivers, and ever more extreme weather of eventual consequences for that done at the time which seemed inconsequential. That we do now, to even the smallest and seemingly most inconsequential, may in retrospect be viewed no less unwise.

1) 'Ancient stygofauna could halt Santos' Pilliga coal seam gas project,' ABC AU
Ancient stygofauna could halt Santos' Pilliga coal seam gas project - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

2) 'Stygofauna of the Pilbara - Why are stygofauna so important?,' Australia Department of Environment and Conservation
Why are stygofauna so important? - Page 2

[KaaBoom]

An interesting article on the fracking problem in Colorado.

Jared Polis sues to stop fracking next to his Weld County property

POSTED: 07/25/2013 09:00:00 PM MDT
UPDATED: 07/25/2013 09:31:08 PM MDT

By Charlie Brennan Camera Staff Writer

For U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, the battle over fracking just turned personal.

Polis, a Boulder Democrat who represents Colorado's 2nd Congressional District, was shocked to see a fracking operation start up last week on land just across the street from a rural getaway he owns in Weld County near Berthoud.

Through the holding company that has title to the congressman's 50-acre property, Polis this week filed a complaint in Denver District Court seeking a temporary restraining order. His goal is to shut the drilling down.

"I'm going public and talking about it because it's happening to a lot of other people in Colorado," Polis told the Daily Camera. "This can happen to anybody. It can happen to you. It can happen to your neighbor. It can happen to your congressman.

Jared Polis sues to stop fracking next to his Weld County property

[smilinpretty]

I watched the movie last week, GasLand 2 and it made me aware how dangerous fracking is not only to our earth and water but to the atmosphere. The EPA turns their backs on those people who are having problems with their water. Two EPA inspectors apologized but said there was nothing they can do, it comes from the higher ups telling them this. Methane gas is released into the atmosphere. Earthquakes are being reported in areas that never had them. Obama and Hilary Clinton promoted fracking in 30 countries, now they have to deal with the consequences. This is a Obama blunder. Please watch Gasland 2 and see how we are being brainwashed.

[wanneroo]

Originally Posted by smilinpretty

I watched the movie last week, GasLand 2 and it made me aware how dangerous fracking is not only to our earth and water but to the atmosphere. The EPA turns their backs on those people who are having problems with their water. Two EPA inspectors apologized but said there was nothing they can do, it comes from the higher ups telling them this. Methane gas is released into the atmosphere. Earthquakes are being reported in areas that never had them. Obama and Hilary Clinton promoted fracking in 30 countries, now they have to deal with the consequences. This is a Obama blunder. Please watch Gasland 2 and see how we are being brainwashed.

Oh I think you are the one that has been brainwashed.

It's funny to me how people watch a movie and now they are experts on the whole thing and the movie of course is an unquestioned source. It goes to show with the low information voters how easily they can be manipulated with propaganda.

I'm always open to different ideas and I did see the first Gasland and then started doing my research. As it turned out the filmmaker knowingly falsified and misrepresented several scenes in the film to get his environmental extremism agenda across.

So to me when someone is that unethical, I don't see any value in what they are pushing. Just like micheal moore, josh fox is just in it to create a apocalyptic drama to get his extremism out there to be commonplace thinking and make some money while he is at it. I wish people would not be so gullible falling for this crap. It makes our country look bad.

[Idunn]

"I am going to pursue every avenue available to me to stop this from ruining my home. But under Colorado law, our options are limited."
— Congressman Jared Polis (2nd District, Colorado) [1]


A side note to begin with. Some of the citizens of Balcombe, England just staged a protest that prevented (for now) fracking in their community. The "environmental" ministry had given its consent for this to proceed, which as I recall would have begun Saturday, so their blocking the import of equipment to the job site has delayed this. Whether they will prevail in the longer term is yet to be decided.



One may well ask if a US congressman cannot stop fracking in his neighborhood, then what chance the rest of us? It seems Mr. Polis may receive the restraining order he requested to halt this at least temporarily. But what chance the average citizen? Mr. Polis has the advantages of not only being in congress, but also the financial resources to fight this in court. Anyone in a similar situation will understand that money equals justice in this country, or at leas the possibility of it. Without it, and a fair amount, good luck.

We can thank KaaBoom for providing a quite apt article on this subject, in well highlighting what so many in Colorado and elsewhere are faced with.

Mr. Polis doesn't even make his permanent residence at the Weld county property in question. But as he mentions, his neighbors do, some retired, and without the option to easily move and relocate if need be. So his guests there, and the neighbors, just rudely awoken one day when this noisy, odorous industrial operation just showed up and set up permanent shop. His guests were forced due the fumes to move to Mr. Polis' Boulder home. With his neighbors left to their own devices.

As Mr. Polis said, ""This shouldn't be any different than if somebody was trying to build a factory right next door to us … It's a slightly different kind of factory, but every bit as damaging to the quality of life in the neighborhood. It was built before we even had a chance to raise an objection."

Mr. Polis' main complaint is with the obvious disruption to his home and neighborhood. Yet if he considered this more closely he might realize that could be the least of it. In time this oil well(s) will be installed, with a decrease in noise and truck traffic (and maybe chemical emissions into the air). But what is transpiring underground will not. THAT may have very long, in effect permanent ramifications for his home, neighborhood and state and its water supply.

It might be beneficial if every member of congress woke up with a fracking operation in their front yard—and told when complaining that there is nothing to be done about it—and then see how sanguine they are about improving America's energy future in this fashion.

1) 'Jared Polis sues to stop fracking next to his Weld County property,' The Denver Post
Jared Polis sues to stop fracking next to his Weld County property - The Denver Post

[J79 Fan]

Originally Posted by Idunn

Fracking is the process of drilling a well and then pumping in toxic chemicals and water at high pressure to fracture the underlying rock.

It is done in the mining of natural gas, such as in Colorado. It is also being proposed for the mining of uranium at a site about 15 miles northeast of Ft. Collins, CO. This is also the location of the large underground aquifer that extends south to Denver. This is one of your major water supplies.

Mr. and Mrs. Sautner of Pennsylvania now have a large metal pipe extending up from their water well, after fracking was done in their neighborhood, to release the methane gas now present, which might otherwise blow up their home.

This is an NBC news account of this:
msnbc.com Video Player

Perhaps he should pump out his septic tank. Frack or freeze.