Millions of gallons for water are used for the hydraulic fracturing of a gas well, and the gas production that follows. Much of that water becomes contaminated with drilling chemicals and salt and is typically disposed of in deep underground wells.
Some five years ago Fort Worth banned drilling companies from locating the wastewater disposal wells within City limits. But the City is now proposing that moratorium be lifted.
City spokesman Jason Lamers says the wells would solve problems that come from transporting the toxic water.
Lamers: Truck traffic has been a continual issue from the very beginning with gas drilling. That truck traffic has a lot to do with shipping salt water outside of the City limits.
Lamers says the City would limit the wastewater wells to industrial areas, but a number of community groups say that's not enough to make the wells safe.
Gary Hogan of the North Central Texas Communities Alliance worries about ground water pollution and the safety of pipelines that would carry the wastewater to the wells.
Hogan: You know we have water main breaks all over Texas because our ground shifts so much. If we ever had one of these production water pipelines break like we have a water line break this toxic brew could go anywhere and it would literally sterilize the earth.
Hogan's group and the Fort Worth League of Neighborhoods want the City to keep the moratorium on wastewater disposal wells in place while it looks at technology that could clean up and reuse the water.
The public has a chance to be heard on changes to the drilling ordinance at a City council meeting beginning at 7:00 pm Tuesday tonight. The Fort Worth Council is scheduled to adopt the changes next week.
This is Fort Worth's mess! Is it OK to continue to send it to another community for disposal??
ReplyDeleteWhere is our landfill? And not it isn't OK to send our mess (thank you for acknowleding that) to another community...unless that community has said, "we want it!"
ReplyDeleteWhat we should be demanding is that they 1) disclose all chemicals and quantities in the fracking fluid, and 2) recycle everything possible on site WITHOUT evaporating it into the air.
Do most communities even know these disposal wells are near them? It seems that most of this has been so secretive from the get go. Aren't there 50,000 disposal wells in Texas? Just wondering why this issue is even being brought up right now...you mentioned that word, "Moratorium," maybe the gas industry just can't stand it that Fort Worth has one of those on the books.
ReplyDelete