Drilling Industry's Recycling Efforts a Focus of Hearing
Representatives of the natural gas drilling industry said at a joint state House committee hearing Wednesday that they were working to reduce their water consumption, mainly through recycling water.
Water shortages and safety in regard to hydraulic fracturing were the big topics of the day at the hearing of the House Energy and the Natural Resources committees.
The committees heard from at least 20 people who represented mining or drilling interests. Fewer than half of that total spoke on behalf of environmental organizations.
In addition to testimony from industry representatives and environmentalists, members of the Texas Railroad Commission said that ...
Comments (5)
Kim Feil
2% water usage by frackers doesn't represent the permanent loss by waste injection. The article didn't cover the earthquakes. The statement to allow frackers to obtain recycling permits easier is agreeable, but I do not agree that that recycled water should water our crops or cattle! Why did this news outlit not cover the cattle that died grazing on mutated hybrid grass!
ChicoMendez
I really think the Tribune owes it to readers to disclose that you get your funding from entities involved in natural gas mining, including T. Boone Pickens. Don't think this article quite gives the other side its due in terms of the current rate of recycling, the years of promises about recycling that have never come true, and the fact that more water is being used in per fracking well than even half a decade ago.
Walt Dale
The article is really misleading . We should be speaking in terms of USING the water vs LOSING the water. It takes 4.5MM gallons to complete one well which is equivalent to the water used by 7 acres of corn in a season or 12.5 hours by a coal fired power plant. However, both of those evaporate water or in the case of a power plant, evaportates then cleans it up for discharge to a river to be used again. When you haul all of the produced water to a disposal well you are taking it out of the hydro cycle and Losing it. The state has 50,000 SWD disposal wells and that is the
biggest problem which leads to the water use by the industry occuring as it does.
We should be looking at the 216,000 production wells in Texas which all create 3-5 bbls of produced water per bbl of hydrocarbon as a source for NEW water in Texas. In addition,every well should use recycle water for their completion needs as opposed to taking it out of the hydrocycle.
The new oil boom in Texas is a great thing for our state and our country but we should be developing it in a sustainbale manner. The technology exisit to recycle for the next completion as well as cleaning the water for beneficial uses...ie agriculture or other. This occurs in many other countries today in the oil and gas sector. It can be done without adverse affects. The fact is, if you live in Texas and pull water from the Brazos or aquifer it has been reycled a few times before you ever pulled it out of the river or aquifer by the hydro cycle.
Adele Roberson
http://www.hightowerlowdown.org/node/3039
What the frack!?!
Oil and gas marauders are destroying our land, water, and communities all over America
jess perry
y we still using water?? they have other methods for a few years now that dont need any water!!!!!
gasfrac is one halburton has another