Sioux County, Nebraska – Local farmer, James Osbourne, recently spoke at a meeting for the Nebraska Oil and Gas Commission where the board was hearing comments from the community about possible fracking operations in the area. Being a former employee in the oil and gas industry, Osbourne was able to speak from personal experience in the business.
The committee has been holding public hearings on a proposal that will allow the Terex Energy Corp to ship as much as 10,000 barrels a day of out-of-state fracking wastewater into Nebraska to be dumped in a “disposal well”. The water would undoubtedly contaminate local water supplies, yet Terex Energy Corp vice president of geology, Marty Gottlob, claims the water is harmless.
To illustrate the hazards of dumping the waste water, Osbourne brought a sample of fracking water for the board members to drink.
“So you told me this morning, when I was in here talking to you, that you would drink this water, right? So would you drink it? Yes or no?” Osbourne asked the board members, to which he was told they could not comment. “Oh, you can’t answer any questions? So, my answer would be, ‘No, I would not drink it.’ So, I don’t want this in the water that will travel entirely across this state in three days.”
Fracking, according to the Oxford Dictionary, is “the process of injecting liquid at high pressure into subterranean rocks, boreholes, etc. so as to force open existing fissures and extract oil or gas.”
In a report from New Scientist:
“The new geophysical research, by Won-Young Kim at Columbia University in Palisades, New York, is the latest to suggest that the main risk of earthquakes associated with fracking relates to the way the water used in the operations is disposed of afterwards. In Ohio, the wastewater was injected into a deep well. This raised the pressure of water within the rock and triggered 109 small quakes between January 2011 and February 2012. The largest, on 31 December 2011, had a magnitude of 3.9.”
Property owners of nearby fracking operations have often reported having their homes poisoned, and they have no recourse to defend their properties in these situations. Fracking is still rather popular publicly because most people are unaware of the dangers, and it is popular amongst politicians since most have a hand in it.
(Video originally submitted by the activist group, Bold Nebraska.)
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Sources:
Allen, Michael. Opposing Views. Mar 30, 2015. (http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/environment/energy/farmer-asks-nebraska-commission-drink-water-fracking-hearing-video)
Boggioni, tom. Alternet. (http://www.alternet.org/nebraska-farmer-challenges-committee-drink-water-contaminated-fracking)
Hayden, Jen. Daily Kos. Mar 30, 2015. (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/30/1374329/-Nebraska-man-challenges-Oil-Gas-Commission-to-drink-fracking-wastewater)
Vibes, John. True Activist. Mar 31, 2015. (http://www.trueactivist.com/this-farmer-asked-oil-and-gas-commissioners-to-drink-fracking-water/)
Dear Anon
I actually admire much of what you’re trying to achieve, but I note with alarm that you are increasingly using the same propagandistic tactics of disinformation that you accuse the established media so often of. The video you show here is not of a farmer, but someone who with his brother actually makes or made a living out of fracking. Furthermore, the concoction he demonstrated has apparently nothing to do with fracking whatsoever. He was making a cheap shot with a shallow argument that was not well researched and actually provided as disservice to a very important cause. I don’t know to what extent you assume responsibility for the content you publish but I suggest at least a minimum of fact checking would go a long way to providing legitimacy for you, rather than simply inundating the net with pure manure at the rate of 144 miles per day.
and the proof of your statement is where ?????
I have supported Anonymous ever scince I have herd of them. But there was always that flash in my mind when I thought “are they not manipulating us to make them look good” lol I mean what if Anonymous is the bad man and we are falling into the trap like mindless people we are…. Do not let what I have said hinder what you think. After all if you’re anonymous, you speak you’re mind.
If Anon was truly bad Earth’s power grid would be shut down within a few hours.
Yea, but then they couldn’t operate….
yes they could they did it with the news station they hijacked it couple yrs ago and hacked playstation and microsoft
you can’t shut down a power grid via ddos attacks…
Amen
Lots of ‘What ifs’ If the world was flat, we’d all fall off. Mess with Mother Nature and she will take it back eventually. Fracking is greed incarnate.
well said! I also wonder where that water really came from, do they treat the fracking water in a closed system like NYS demands? DOES this man ACTUALLY FARM? iF HE DOES, does he plant GMO toxic crops? Does he use Neonic pesticieds that kill butterflies & honey bees, Does he use round up or other harmful chemicals on his lawn, crops, or that his live stock grazes on? He was talking MAJOR hypothetical s. From what I have read per fracking in PA, the people who use scare tactics of contaminated wells arent telling others that the contamination has been from agriculture & what individuals use in & around their homes & not fracking. What are clean up procedures? Canada does “green” fracking or has the technology to. If hydrofracking can be done safely & without actually causing earth quakes then we should do that in ADDITION to hydro power, wind, & solar, not big chemically laden-ed agribusiness to make expensive, inefficient ethanol that actually damages engines. Heck in Fla the Fla’s crystals produces enough energy for their plant (organic sugar) by using the cane fiber waste & also powers 10’s of thousands of homes in the area. Advocacy is GREAT if the data is true & accurate & in benefits the people. Fear mongering & ignorance of the facts is not good.
Kevin your stupid he said his brothers is in the fracking field not hom he said he had a lil experience with pipes you moron listen carefully
Ground water from near disposal sites has been found to contain chemicals not allowed in drinking water.
Friends of mine near fracking sites lost their well water and all source of water for their farms. If fracking is stopped today, the ground water could be usable in a few decades. Meanwhile, their farm is worthless.
They lost their property. No one can use it for a few decades.
This is sort of like Love Canal.
fuck tard
Epic Troll !
Spiros Papadakis Nexttopmodel —
PANORAMA SYNERGY LTD is the only company in the world that’s got the technology to prove that its toxic not only with the water but the air quality as well 100% accurate Fracking
Bro America gotta learn not to shit in the bed. I wouldn’t drink that and even if you called it clean I wouldn’t drink it. Rather die of thirst.
Howdy,
So I am a geoscientist, I regularly work work gas producing black shales and therefore hydraulic fracturing. I test wells regularly (gas wells, that is) collecting both gas and flowback (the water that you pump out of the reservoir.) I spend most of my time in a lab looking at the geochemical components of both the flowback as well as the rock itself.
Now that I have established my authority on the subject, I feel I need to correct a few problems in this article.
1. There has never been an instance of groundwater contamination from a waste water well. So no, the water would not “undoubtedly contaminate local water supplies.” There have been blowouts and surface spills, but nothing that couldn’t be cleaned up, contained to the pad, or fixed. There is very little risk of groundwater contamination from fracking. You’re more likely to contaminate groundwater due to geothermal than fracking. The reason is pretty simple: depth. When we drill, we go thousands of feet below the deepest drinking water wells. We have to go so deep because, well, that’s where the mature hydrocarbons are. The well is capped, sealed, and the borehole is lined with steel and concrete. (If it weren’t, you’d lose gas and therefore money.) Same goes for a waste water well.
2. Fracking water is “safe” to drink (in moderation, of course) but flowback is not. Flowback you could probably have a cup or two before you got very very sick. It is important to note: this is not due to the frack fluid. The frack fluid is relatively clean (it’s basically just water, proppant (usually sand,) and a mix of industrial dish soap,) but the rocks (usually shales) that are being fracked are not. All the radium, uranium, cadmium, fluorine, benzene, etc that are in the shales get picked up and pumped out with the water. It’s the rock that’s dirty, not the frack fluid.
3. Until I see evidence of tangible harm, I will be pro-fracking. Natural gas is one the most economical and cleanest burning fuels and it has helped us reduce our carbon emissions greatly. It reduces acid rain, and is a relatively clean and safe industry.
Making things up (where did he get flowback/frack fluid anyway?) or scaring people with misinformation won’t help anything.
First off the words “In Moderation” should never be used in conjunction with water. Water is the only 100% safe liquid on the planet that humans can drink. Fracking disrupts the ground, loosing and shifting rock layers that should never be shifted. It exposes groundwater currents to dangerous chemicals previously kept separate by multiple layers of rock. As we know, water is patient and methodical. It will eventually seep into the underground lakes and rivers in Nebraska and contaminate the whole state. Yes it might now happen in our lifetime or even our children’s lifetime but it will happen. Finally, the safest and best source of energy is also one that will be around for the next 10 billion years or so. The Sun. Solar energy neither disrupts the Earth’s crust nor produces harmful flowback/runoff/radiation of any kind. The only reason politician’s don’t like it is because they have to spend money to build Solar Satellites and ground receivers to convert the natural energy of the Sun into a usable form. With a simple array of Solar Collection Satellites positioned around the Earth and Ground Receivers capable of transferring that power into electricity, we would have a never-ending, 100% clean, powerful and economical source of power. Fracking will lead to contamination, it will lead to our children being born with horrifying deformities and will eventually cause the Earth to crack irreparably as wee dig deeper and deeper to sate our lust for energy. I am and always will be anti-fracking as will my children and their children.
You mention them not wanting to spend money for solar energy….but how many trillions of dollars do you think are spent annually into getting gas and oil?
Billions* The return of energy/dollar spent is far greater for oil and gas, and the spending is almost entirely private. In fact, the oil and gas industry is the highest taxed industry (Exxon in 2013 paid an effective tax rate of 44%.) Then the consumer is taxed when they buy oil or gas. The opposite is true for solar, as it is almost entirely government funded either through subsidies or loans, and consumers receive tax breaks for purchasing solar panels.
Actually, you can die if you drink too much water, it can cause hyponatremia. Also, you don’t want your water to be super pure. It will throw off your electrolyte balance and make your heartbeat irregular. If you drank nothing but pure water then ran a marathon, you’d likely die.
So no, water isn’t 100% safe.
Also, you comment is equally wrong on the fact that it is the “only” safe chemical to ingest. Ever eat food? Carbs? Fat? Protein? Is apple juice poison now?
“Fracking disrupts the ground, loosing and shifting rock layers that should never be shifted. ”
No, it doesn’t. It fractures rock, but it doesn’t shift earth. A consolidated deep reservoir, aka the things we frack, is under intense pressure from all sides. Fraturing it does not make it move any which way, rather, causes small fractures throughout it to increase permeability and free trapped gas.
“It exposes groundwater currents to dangerous chemicals previously kept separate by multiple layers of rock”
No, it doesn’t. See a trend here? I’m not sure where you have been reading this information but it wasn’t a scientific journal I am sure. You can access a number of great papers on the basics of hydraulic fracturing on google scholar.
I think you are having a trouble with scale. The deepest groundwater wells are about 1000 feet, and that is realistically about how far down we could even find fresh groundwater. Here in Ohio we usually encounter the interval somewhere around 400 feet. The Utica (one of the largest shale gas plays) is at about 6000 feet. (It’s at about 14000 in PA/WV.) There is about 5000 feet of rock, roughly a mile, between the fracked zone and the lowest possible fresh ground water. Even if fracked areas extended that far (they usually are on the order of a hundred feet or less) you have this thing called gravity. Things go down, not up. Even if there were high pressure, it would take centuries, if not longer, for the frack fluid to make it that high, if it wasn’t lost to lower formations first. Fracking has never caused groundwater contamination. There are a couple exceptions from earlier in the industry with improperly cased wells where gas escaped to groundwater. That’s not really all that bad, and the problem was fixed quickly.
” It will eventually seep into the underground lakes and rivers in Nebraska and contaminate the whole state. Yes it might now happen in our lifetime or even our children’s lifetime but it will happen.”
Yeah, if you are talking about millions of years, no one cares. Because if (big if) it somehow did get back to the surface all of the chemicals other than salt and water would likely be gone, either broken down or lost to heat and pressure and rock interactions, and it would take millions upon millions upon millions of years.
“Solar energy neither disrupts the Earth’s crust nor produces harmful flowback/runoff/radiation of any kind. ”
Tell that to the poor Chinese people who have to make the solar panels. Based on your knowledge of fracking I can’t honestly expect you to be an expert on solar energy, but none the less we an try. There are loads of radioactive chemicals in solar panels and they produce a huge amount of waste both from the mining of the materials and from their disposal after they expire after 20 years. And yes, the Sun is radioactive. It’s why you are alive.
“The only reason politician’s don’t like it is because they have to spend money to build Solar Satellites and ground receivers to convert the natural energy of the Sun into a usable form. ”
Spend our money that they first stole* I fixed it for you. Would you be comfortable with our government spending money to produce natural gas? No? Then 1. you shouldn’t support the government producing solar energy for the same environmental/ecological/health reasons, and 2. you shouldn’t expect others to foot your bill. You can buy solar panels and replace your water heater and stove with electric if you’d like. Just don’t make me pay for it.
“With a simple array of Solar Collection Satellites positioned around the Earth and Ground Receivers”
Why would we build a ton of satellites that would cost a great deal (far more money than exists, let alone is expendable) just to send the energy via light back to Earth? You do know that the warmth you feel on your face when you leave the house is the Sun, not a satellite, right?
“Fracking will lead to contamination, it will lead to our children being born with horrifying deformities and will eventually cause the Earth to crack irreparably as wee dig deeper and deeper to sate our lust for energy.”
No, no it won’t. No, no it won’t. You really should stay away from blogs like this and read something with a bit more scientific credibility. New Scientist is pretty decent, as is PopSci if you prefer the entertainment side. If you really want good info, ScienceDaily is a great resource.
” I am and always will be anti-fracking as will my children and their children.”
Yeah, your anti-fracking stance seems pretty dogmatic and quasi-religious.
KUDOS! Well said, BRAVO
When these high pressure gas is released from deep within the earth, what is done to counter that release in pressure? Could that not cause disruption in the other layers of the earth’s crust? If there is a bubble of gas 10 feet in the ground, I poke a hole in the ground and release that bubble, what is going to happen to the ground around it? It isn’t like there is concrete and steel around the entire bubble to prevent it from collapsing.
exactly!! i an not ascientist but even i csn see that unnaturally subjecting our sub terrain to such pressure alters millions of years if nstural processes ina violent unnatural manner! talk about getting blood out of a stone!! such desperate measures are totally wrong.
Thank you for clarifying for people. We are consumers of far to much, wasting, misusing. Unless EACH of us learns to do without sometimes, be better stewards of our resources, can fish, hunt, grow crops & raise livestock organically & safely, NOT taking or using more than we needs & also sharing with our neighbors, no amount of clean anything is going to individually do the trick. Natural gas IS a MUCH cleaner & safer alternative & ECONOMICAL. Do we REALLY want foreign oil where they MAY practice things less safely than here, & DONT employ American’s, DON’t help our economy OR our ENVIRONMENT? I don’t. Who knows how things are done elsewhere, esp in countries where ppl have NO freedoms, little rights except for a select few. Then that oil waste MORE fossil fuels in tankers & COULD spill into the ocean. We have enough natural resources HERE in oil, natural gas, solar, wind, hydro, wood that when done correctly, can& SHOULD conserve those resources & power our great Nation as well as others. Thank You for your reply!
No one who says fracking water is safe to drink – ever drinks it. It seems like a bluff and a lie. And BTW – making a statement does not establish credibility. We can all say we are whoever we want to be.
Yeah, I’m a scientist too, see – I say fracking is bad….
Dish soap is carcinogenic. Industrial dish soap,- any idea what toxicity that chemical mixture contains?
Probably,contains triclosan, formaldehyde, dioxane, diethanolonine,alkyl phenoxy ethanols and many more.
Ingest water contaminated with dish soap over a period of time and it will likely kill you.
I dont know what environmental matter is or isnt present in fracking fluids, but describing it as relatively clean, despite the presence of industrial dish soap is unwittingly damning it. I wouldn’t want to drink it.
the iradium and cadnium etc was safely locked up in the solid rock until the fracking pounding dispersed it – therefore your answer exposes the huge flaw un your rhetoric!!
Your expertise is hardly comforting : Fracking water is “safe” to drink (in moderation, of course) but flowback is not. Flowback you could probably have a cup or two before you got very very sick. It is important to note: this is not due to the frack fluid. The frack fluid is relatively clean. Your words, not mine. So enlighten us on where this flowback go ?????
All the radium, uranium, cadmium, fluorine, benzene, etc that are in the shales get picked up and pumped out with the water. It’s the rock that’s dirty, not the frack fluid. What freakin difference does it make if its the fracking fluid or not….it is the fracking fluid that is disturbing the above mentioned…..
This flowback is pumped thousands of feet down into permeable and porous reservoirs, usually sandstone. Once we finish off a waste water well, we plug and cap it. Then the water sits down there for millions of years and slowly becomes fine and dandy again or just remains brackish miles below the surface.
“What freakin difference does it make if its the fracking fluid or not….it is the fracking fluid that is disturbing the above mentioned…..”
Because people seem to confuse frack fluid with waste water. Hence the video. Also, because there are shales all over the place. Ever hear of a radon detector for basements? Yeah, you need those because the basement overlies (or sits in) shale. That babbling brook in hills that looks so fresh and great, the same water that goes to the county reservoir? Yeah, running out of and all over shale. People seem so concerned with something they likely will never see, let along touch or drink, all the while burning their toast and flying on planes and sitting in their basements breathing heavily on anonhq.
They pump it back down into the wells….that don’t contanimate the ground water, ground water contamination happens from above ground incidents
and nuclear power stations are safe as well leave the water and the ground alone its amazing what greed will do and still we allow it
I stand with you on this one Derek, one other point that should be noted is look at any water filter. it uses minerals to sift out the bad in water. what are in rocks, oh yeah minerals. a filter that’s no thicker then 5 inches, turns non potable water into potable water. fracking occurs thousands of feet below the water tables. the water will filter if it ever makes it back to surface.
don’t frget that this water still exist, if there is a shift of the ground the contamination can go faster. Furthermore the water is not going down at this depth, the heat is likely to boil water and therefore bring indigenous element like deadly one to the surface. The fracking industry is not safe, the industrial exploitation makes the accidents to be really likely to happen and the lack of safety for few well make a risk of located contamination of the water/ground really high.
Umm no the water either gets pumped farther down the well into a permeable reservoir like sandstone were it is safely absorbed and not free to boil, or is disposed of in a disposal well probably on the same pad. Before you go making comments, get educated.