Can You Light Your Water On Fire?

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Jessica Marie Little

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Sadly, this is not where I explain how to create an optical illusion to impress the kiddies.
Watch This:

Wait for it, wait for it, WOW! The tap water is on fire!

Why did the water go up in flames? This is one of the burning questions Josh Fox had while researching the film GasLands, a film that won the special jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival and premiered on HBO last Monday night (5/21).

Mr. Fox’s journey started when he was offered $100,000 to lease his Pennsylvania property for drilling. NPR’s Ira Flatow recently interviewed Mr. Fox:

Mr. FOX: It was, of course, a tempting offer, $100,000. And when the industry came in, they said, oh, this won't be a problem. It's just a fire hydrant in the middle of your field. We won't even drill, all these things. And say, well, look at all this money you're going to make. It seemed to me like an offer that was too good to be true, and I wanted to look into it.

So I traveled to a nearby place called Dimock, Pennsylvania, 50 miles away from me. And I found the place in utter dismay and disarray. Halliburton trucks all over the place. People - very scared, their water bubbling and fizzing, kids getting sick. One of the resident's water well exploded on New Year's Day 2009, just spontaneously combusted because I guess so much natural gas is pooling up inside the water well that the pump ignited it and it blew up into...

FLATOW: Did this only happen after the drilling...

Mr. FOX: After the drilling.

The drilling processed used is called Hydraulic Fracturing or “Fracking.” It is used to release natural gas that is buried deep below the surface in shale (hard rock). A well is dug, and then millions of gallons of water, sand, and proprietary chemicals are pumped down at enormously high pressure. The result is a crack or “frack” in the shale that releases the natural gas, allowing the gas to flow easier out of the well.

So what makes “fracking” a Healthy Child issue? Well, as mentioned above there are some ‘proprietary chemicals’ used in the process. The GasLands website has a simple FAQ explaining:

What fluids are used in the fracking process?

For each frack, 80-300 tons of chemicals may be used. Presently, the natural gas industry does not have to disclose the chemicals used, but scientists have identified volatile organic comunds (VOCs) such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene.

In what form does the natural gas come out of the well?

The gas comes up wet in produced water and has to be separated from the wastewater on the surface. Only 30-50% of the water is typically recovered from a well. This wastewater can be highly toxic.

What is done with the wastewater?

Evaporators evaporate off VOCs and condensate tanks steam off VOCs, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The wastewater is then trucked to water treatment facilities.

What is a well's potential to cause air pollution?

As the VOCs are evaporated and come into contact with diesel exhaust from trucks and generators at the well site, ground level ozone is produced. Ozone plumes can travel up to 250 miles.

With no end in sight for drilling the possibility of contamination in our water and air is overwhelming, and definitely something to watch out for in your area. According to a report by the EWG, “in a worst case scenario, the petroleum distillates used in a single well could contain enough benzene to contaminate more than 100 billion gallons of drinking water to unsafe levels, according to drilling company disclosures in New York State and published studies.”

Don’t wait until your tap water starts on fire. Check out the action steps on the GasLands Movie website to contact your elected official, find local organizations, and share your story.

Were you aware of fracking? Share your story or concerns in the comments.

image courtesy of charles chan * / CC BY-SA 2.0