A new study by the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas at Austin, reports that amount was used for drilling and hydraulic fracturing in the Barnett Shell region of Texas. The Barnett covers 10,000 square miles in fifteen counties, including the one where I live. Some 55 billion gallons of water were used in the area from 1981, when natural gas production began in the region, through 2011.
One Barnett researcher says this should cause less concern than the surface impact of drilling such as chemical spills. Many folks disagree – especially ranchers who had to sell entire cattle herds accumulated over a lifetime, because there was no water for them.
The waste water from hydraulic fracturing (fracking) is injected back into the earth through disposal wells. The U. T. study found that although some injected water flows, only five percent has been recycled for reuse.
The water situation is serious, folks. With fracking using thousands of gallons, with water from lawn sprinklers running in rivers along curbs, with households making no effort to conserve or recycle, and with the continued drought, we may become like Wichita Falls, Texas and find treated effluent waste water in our pipes.
No comments:
Post a Comment