Ban Michigan Fracking
The destruction of the world’s fresh water due to fracking is at the uppermost of our minds, as we live and drink the water in the Great Lakes state. How much water is being used for Michigan’s frack industry is now proven to be obscenely underestimated. Michigan may have set a national record for allowing Encana Oil & Gas USA to frack a natural gas well with more than 21 million gallons of water.
A second nearby well is set to be fracked with more than 16 million gallons, according to a permit granted Encana late last year by Michigan regulators.
These big numbers are a big surprise. Most industry and government claims of water usage go by Marcellus shale figures, but here in Michigan, the frackers are using more water than perhaps anywhere else in the nation.
- According to Michigan regulators (Department of Environmental Quality) “up to 5,000,000 gallons or more.”
- According to industry’s public relations front group, Energy In Depth “as much as 5 million gallons.”
- According to the industry group website, FracFocus, by Ground Water Protection Council and Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission states it takes (referring to the Marcellus shale in the eastern U.S.) “5 million gallons of water per well.”
The truth is now coming out
FracFocus says the first well, State Excelsior 3-25 HD1, was fracked on Oct. 30, and Encana used 21,112,194 gallons of water. Combined with two other horizontal wells on the same pad, FracFocus says more than 42 million gallons went permanently downhole. The Excelsior pad (named after the township) is on Sunset Trail between Kalkaska and Grayling in the Mackinaw State Forest in Kalkaska County.
Some of the 42 million gallons of fresh water being poured into the drilling pit at the State Excelsior frack well can be seen in this video by Respect My Planet:
A permit that was issued Nov. 30, for Encana’s well State Roscommon 1-7 HD1, states the company intends to frack with 400,000 barrels. That equals 16,800,000 gallons. The company’s application adds that the wellpad is sized to accommodate “up to six or 8 HD’s” (horizontal drills). If there are eight horizontal drills on the pad, the total water usage will be more than 100 million gallons. The pad is in the Roscommon State Forest, south of Houghton Lake.
The per well figures are three and four times what the industry and regulators have been saying. And it cannot be compared to the water used by farmers. Irrigation water returns to the aquifer and the hydrologic cycle. Water used for fracking is lost forever deep in the frack wells and disposal injection wells.
Why is the gas industry allowed to suck up so much water? Industry’s latest answer is that fracking is ok because burning natural gas synthesizes new water in the atmosphere, chemically, where it didn’t exist before. Eventually the new water rains to earth. If enough gas is burned from a well, the water created can actually surpass the amount of water destroyed in the fracking process.
This is a diversionary tactic to try to ignore the fact that millions of gallons of water are being destroyed forever, leaving our landscape full of frack wells and injection wells filled with toxic and carcinogenic frack wastes–water permanently diverted from the Great Lakes and now buried in the ground … in literally bottomless pits.
The industry’s newest gimmick is only telling half the story about the chemistry and, there’s a catch: Little of the rain will fall in Michigan. Atmospheric winds whirl it around the world. It can fall anywhere, usually on places with wet climates or in the oceans. In addition to creating H2O, burning methane creates CO2, a greenhouse gas that accelerates climate change.
Michigan is in a drought. Great Lakes levels are at near-record lows. Water is limited. Gas extracted here—or anywhere—will bring scant amounts of it to rain in our state.
There’s a second catch: Inevitably some wells are duds. Duds don’t produce enough gas to generate enough water to equal the amount lost during fracking.
Exponentially more water threatened by future wells
Encana’s threat to Michigan is profound. Encana has identified 1,700 potential Collingwood well locations in Michigan. Each location may host more than one frack well. Encana holds oil and gas leases on 430,000 net acres in the state. Recent pipeline applications say it anticipates drilling a significant number of wells in Kalkaska and Crawford Counties over the next several years.
It’s painful to do the math on how much water this will destroy. If all 1,700 Encana well locations used 21.1 million gallons of water, 35.8 billion gallons of water would be used for Encana’s wells alone, producing even greater amounts of frack wastes, when adding in the amounts of chemicals, additives and silica sand in the injectate. And if the Roscommon and Excelsior wells are the model for the industry, it is likely there will be more than one frack well on each of the 1,700 frack well locations, more than doubling or tripling the water and wastewater estimates.
Since learning of the high water use figures at the Excelsior and Roscommon wells, Ban Michigan Fracking has asked industry and environmental sources around the country to see if anyone has heard of any larger well anywhere. So far, no larger well has been identified. We will keep readers posted.
Michigan will become a toxic wasteland of frack wastes that will be unrecoverable and unfixable
The burgeoning problem resulting from all this fracking and unconventional shale gas drilling is where to put all the toxic wastes directly made by the process? Already Ohio is the recipient of the Pennsylvania frack industry’s toxic wastewater, in addition to its own, overwhelming the injection wells there. Michigan, with more than 1,000 injection wells, will quickly become a toxic wasteland, taking in frack wastes from Michigan and other locations.
Is this the kind of Michigan where healthy crops can be raised, where industries like wineries and breweries can produce uncontaminated products? Where pure Michigan groundwater can continue to sustain us?
Visit EcoWatch’s FRACKING page for more related news on this topic.
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Sign the petition today, telling President Obama to enact an immediate fracking moratorium:
I think this is one of the hardest articles I’ve read in the past year! So many have been warning and talking about the water issue in fracking for a long time. This is the very scarey truth of what we have known could be. Now just multiply this by several states. My stomach sinks.
This is my State of Michigan, there is a fracking well a few miles from my home in Missaukee County, Houghton Lake, MI, is Roscommon County which is next to my County and north of my county is Kalkaska Country where they have been fracking for several years and where a Halliburton factory is located and Wexford County is on the other side of me and I believe fracking is happening there also. I am already poisoned with Methane Gas and now am surrounded with every county fracking. Gerry Seger, Michigan
Gerry, I’m sorry to hear you are surrounded by them, I live in a community that is getting ready to be drilled. When you say you are poisoned by methane, what do you mean, flaring, or your well water? I am trying to talk to my city and township about what is coming and would like some input fr someone in Michigan
I was poisoned with Methane Gas through a leak in the gas pipe line in my home. This is the same gas seaping into peoples wells from fracking. I was poisoned with the leak in my home, so it did not enter my water supply, nor my soil, YET, as I have not had my water tested with all the fracking going on around me, I was just inhaling it, but fracking is MUCH worse, as you have almost 600 toxic chemicals, they explode into the shale to get to the gas. I’ve been sending throughout the world my story, my diagnosis, symptoms, information to look for on the Internet showing the toxic wells across the US, information about Cornell Veterinarian College testing animals in six states where animals are dying within four hours of drinking the water at the toxic waste well water sites. Putting gag orders on Doctors in PA so they can not tell their patients about their diagnostic test results. April 2009 I learned about Methane Gas poisoning, took a year to find a Doctor who knew how to test and diagnose me and another eight months for all the test results to return showing what is in my lungs, blood, hair analysis, organs, my entire body and then match those toxins with the toxic petro chemicals and solvents in Methane Gas. Methane gas is extracted from the earth, then several other gases are added to make Natural Gas, also adding Mercaptan, the rotten egg odor, but when you live in this deadly atmosphere daily, you become immune to the Mercaptan. That is why the Methane gas at fracking sites and seaping from the earth is so dangerous as it does not have an odor. I didn’t get my diagnosis until February 2011. I’ve had requests from around the world, where they are setting up Ban Fracking Around the World Groups. If you want me to send you the info I have gathered since 2009, I can send the info to you. My email address is: gfrms@charter.net
Gerry Seger, Michigan
This is really something Gerry, so as a Hydraulic fracturing supervisor in the Marcellus shale, we use a fluid called “Slick Water”. This is water with (3) Chemicals in fresh water. The first is a biocide which is sprayed on red meat before coming to your local store and this seems to get the most criticism and why? Its used everyday and you eat the meat that its sprayed on. Obviously everyone on this forum is oblivious to progression, why would we not want more jobs to come to Michigan. I hope these wells do great and Michigan can once become an economic strong state and not a bunch of people on a computer bitching about progression. Know the facts before we start disputing.
Would you be willing to admit what the other 2 chemicals are? It would be nice to know all the facts.
When will the citizens’ right to life, as in clean air and water, enough water, land that is not tortured for profit, come before the fossil fuel industry profit? Over and over, the gas and oil industry understates the bad and overstates the good of their actions. They have “accidents” and walk away paying large amounts of money, but considering their profits, this is like a slap on the wrist. Why is the fossil fuel industry pushing around our government representatives?
Marianne, They are not pushing our representatives around they are in collusion with them.
You are so right, look up the Politicians who have accepted money for their campaigns from the Gas/Oil/Mining Companies. Gerry Seger, Michigan
Sorry kids and grandkids we allowed your water to be used for energy we don’t need. They used 4-6 mil gal a frac here in Arkansas. So doing some short math if they stop fracking today what like 40 million people won’t have water for 67 years thats their whole life what is wrong with us
And New Yorkers are to trust the industry will “get it right” with fracking and mitigating health risks, land deprevation and water, air pollution? I think this article says it all and the video shows it all. Fracking is going to kill our species because the water we drink will be gone forever from the explosion of natural gas development. Stop Fracking NOW. Give the bio-fuels, renewable fuels, sustainable energies the same subsidies that oil/gas companies enjoy and we will be free of dirty fossil fuels forever!!
We need to hold oil and gas accountable for these crimes.
We need to hold corrupt governors accountable for these crimes.
Many feel that we need to liquidate the assets of oil and gas corporations to pay for the extraordinary damage they have inflicted on our environment – not to mention their central role in global warming.
Our legal system is almost completely broken; after all, laws are written to protect the interests of the rich and corporations – not us “little people.”
You are right, my gas company, Consumers Energy/CMS employees lied to me each time they came to my home, telling me the same thing over and over, that the gas would NOT hurt me, three employees admitted this under oath in their Depositions. My case was thrown out of both Circuit Court and Appellate Court in Michigan where despite the admission I was lied to by the gas company and all my test results proving the Methane gas caused my many illnesses, the laws are set up in MIchigan to protect the “BIG” Companies. Just like the Politicians tell us that FRACKING is safe, as I have several letters from them stating that Fracking is not harmful to the environment, or to people, even after I sent them letters of my many diagnosis. That is why I quit going to the US Government and started going to the people and to Foreign Countries who are trying to have Frackig Banned Worldwide. Gerry Seger, Michigan
Tell your kids and grandkids to start speaking arabic, because that is where we are heading by dependence on foreign oil. We have enough in our country to sustain us but this uninformed one sided audience doesn’t want the facts..in fact Ban Michigan Fracking said at a meeting “Don’t listen to the facts, listen to your heart”..Fracking at depth of 2K has been going on forever and MI has at least 12K fracked wells, before the DEEP formation fracking began where better technology allowed it to recovered. We are one earth..lets all go back to horses and buggies so we don’t need oil and use wood stoves. Wonder what cars the Ban MI Fracking folks drive?
For those who support the new type of hydraulic fracking exploding toxic chemicals into the earth, let me send you a supply of water to drink, cook and bathe in from fracking sites. Cornell Veterian College did a study in six states and farmers told them their animals were dead within FOUR hours after the animals drank from the toxic water at the well sites. The article is on the Internet. The animals drinking from streams running through the property, either died, stopped producing, or were sickly. These animals just might end up at your meat market if they are not producing and on your dinner table, so you might be able to enjoy a few toxins with your meat, milk and eggs. Also any greens, fruit, veggies, etc., grown on the toxic land, watered with toxic water, or down the stream from a fracking site, will also add a few more toxins to your body. Where do you get your drinking water from, are you sure it is toxin free? Wine territory is California and Michigan and other States, those grapes need a lot of water, so your wine will also be toxic as the toxic waste water flows through the water table. Welcome to the world of a slow poisoning toxic life. I know as I have been living it. Every time you put anything in your mouth, you might wonder where it came from and is it full of toxic chemicals from fracking??? Are you feeding this food to your children??? I will gladly trade my medical problems with anyone who thinks fracking is so great. Oddly enough, the test results from the animals tested by Cornell were shown to be matched with the Methane Gas and Toxins found in the water at the fracking well site, BUT Doctors in PA had GAG ORDERS put on them, so they could NOT release this same information about their patients. My breathe test which identified numerous toxins in my lungs, making it difficult to breathe, my blood test and hair analysis identified many toxic petro chemicals and solvents ALL identified in Methane Gas. When you have walked in the shoes of the people dying in PA, or other States from being poisoned by fracking, or me who fights cancer daily and lives in excruciating pain, then you have a right to insult the people who are suffering. If you want to read the HELL I live in daily contact me and I will send you a copy. gfrms@charter.net Gerry Seger, Michigan
That statement wasn’t made by Ban Michigan Fracking. You’re thinking of another group.
We talk about the facts, and the facts are very bad about fracking. There is no alternative for water. There are alternatives for energy.
Energy independence?? I didn’t think anybody actually believed that.
Our water is being used to extract gas to eventually end up in Korea,France,Japan and a host of others foreign countries.That is the plan.There is a thing called “google”. I suggest you try it out.Simply google “natural gas export”….you might be surprised.
It appears you were making a comparison between Antrim Shale drilling and deep shale drilling and fracturing in the Collingwood Shale.
Do you realize that you can drill roughly 4200 Antrim Shale wells to completion with the water used on the Oliver 1-1 Pad(Excelsior Wells)in Kalkaska County?? Does that sound like something that has been going on “forever” ??
If you drilled Excelsior 3-25 6 times it would surpass the entire 60 years of Antrim Shale “fracking”
Sound like just another Michigan gas well??
And has our DEQ changed the way they regulate?? Why would they?? Like you,they believe it’s just the same old type of drilling we have been doing for 60 years….or “forever” as you put it.
The info is out there.There is no excuse to make “uninformed” statements like you did in your post.
Must work for the industry. YOU CAN’T DENY REPORTS FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY RUINED WATER WELLS ALL CONTAMINATED WITH METHANE AND A HOST OF OTHER TOXINS. VERTICAL DRILLING HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR YEARS NOT HORIZONTAL AND THOSE ARE THE FACTS. BUT THEN YOU ALREADY KNOW THAT IS A LIE THAT IS BEING PERPETUATED BY INDUSTRY!FLARING CAUSES CHEMICAL PNEUMONIA, LIVESTOCK DYING AND FISH KILLS IN THE RIVERS AND STREAMS. CAN YOU DRINK ALL THIS METHANE? NO! THERE ARE ALTERNATIVES AND DRILLING, AND A HORSE AND BUGGY WOULD BE FINE WITH ME, AT LEAST I WOULD HAVE CLEAN WATER TO DRINK
YOU CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT WATER
I think you need to get this fact straight. These are natural gas wells, not oil wells. You can’t use what comes out of them to fuel your car.
I think you need to get this fact straight. These are natural gas wells, not oil wells. You can’t use what comes out of them to drive a car.
Actually we need to start driving less. Don’t buy the big vehicles. We cannot keep losing that much water over and over again. The drought is bad and will get worse. How much snow has Michigan had this year? Did you get enough? This is the first time I heard of the “rain advantage” of co2 release!! The flaring of the wells have to stop in 2015, even though they have the technology to stop it now. The amount of methane leaked into the atmosphere from each well is even worse than the co2.
I wish I could find the video I watched on Facebook not too long ago, almost cartoon like, showing all the water trucks, different chemicals, etc. used to frack. I should have kept sharing it over and over again.
Check it out, this article is full of lies. I made it two sentences in before the publisher lied through his teeth. I Frac for a living and have had to work very hard to provide a life for my family. If you’d like to get educated on the safe working practices frac companies use, forget everything about this ridiculous article and do a little more research.
Maybe you should live on the land with your family AFTER you fracked and poisoned it, except I would NEVER wish that for your children. YES, you make TONS of money working for the Gas/Oil Companies, but the gas/oil can be drilled for as it has done in the past without damaging the environment. I was on a Rig site in Missaukee County years ago and wrote a paper on it, they even let me come out at 3am to watch the coring for testing, which is a “BIG secret” in the drilling process. THERE was NO water anywhere at that site. Why can’t we go back to that kind of drilling? It was SAFE and NOT TOXIC. Gerry Seger, Michigan
Greg,
What part of this are lies??
Seemed like it was made pretty clear but I guess some people don’t get it
Let me know what part you don’t understand and I will spell it out for you
RMP
There is nothing good about fracking. EACH & EVERY well consumes (average) 4.5 MILLION gallons of water, which can NEVER be cleaned, recycled, fixed – used again. It is referred to as brine or as I heard today in the Dallas Texas City Hall Meeting, “salt water.” When the fracking operation is done it is set out in ponds to evaporate (!) and what is left is trucked to and pumped into mine shafts. The diesel motors used to do the fracking pump 2 1/2 TONS of carbon crap into the atmosphere. And this is only a small part of the story. There is a glut of natural gas which has driven the cost down to (as I remember) about $2.00 from a high of over $10.00. Storage areas are full. The gas is now being burned off into the atmosphere. Don’t get me started on Tar Sands… STOP THE FRACKING
All I can say is it is best to support the natural law economy called the resource based economy as it has no money use in it and it works to use alternative energies. Develop more of them as well.
The videos on it is on YouTube and net fix.
It is a while new way of thinking and living. NO starvation and no fracking.
http://www.TheZeitgeistMovement.com
and
http://www.TheVenusProject.com
Also the jobs are going away due to technology taking them planet wide.