Freaking Fracking Fluid

Hydraulic fracturing, also referred to as fracking, uses a specially blended liquid which is pumped into  the well under extreme pressure.  The pressure causes cracks (faults) in the underground rock formation. These cracks in the rock then allow oil and natural gas to flow, increasing resource production.

In theory, the hydraulic pressure will bring oil and gas to the surface.  However, in reality, it may also produce tainted ground water, polluted streams and people who are dying from disease from exposure to the chemicals in the fracking fluid.

Oil and gas companies blatantly disregard requirements that other industries have to follow. In addition to being exempt from the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act, the Cheney loophole, they do not have to identify the chemicals they use in their operations, citing the rule for proprietary intellectual property. The industry claims its chemical cocktails must be kept confidential because they are trade secrets. Fortunately, Pennsylvania does not recognize this claim.

From the information given to Pennsylvania, a list of the chemicals in fracking fluid that are known to produce ten or more health problems was compiled. Below is a table giving the name of the chemical and how many health effects are related to that chemical.

As you can see, none of these chemicals should be in the ground, groundwater, aquifer, pastureland, spring, river or lake. To use these chemicals close to drinking water supplies is criminal. If you saw the movie Gasland, then you know what is happening to drinking water from coast to coast. If you have not seen Gasland, I have a short post and movie trailer in this post: Gasland : Water, Air and Ground Pollution.

A national database for the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas exploration was opened for use on Monday, April 11. The database, located at http://fracfocus.org/, is a place for companies to voluntarily list the contents of the fluid used in hydraulic fracturing.

The site is a cooperative effort by the Ground Water Protection Council and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission and is partially funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. The chemicals listed below are listed in the database.

Chemical Name | CAS | Chemical | Purpose | Product Function

Hydrochloric Acid | 007647-01-0 | Helps dissolve minerals and initiate cracks in the rock | Acid


Glutaraldehyde | 000111-30-8 | Eliminates bacteria in water that produces corrosive by-products | Biocide


Quaternary Ammonium Chloride |  012125-02-9 | Eliminates bacteria in  water that produces corrosive by-products | Biocide


Quaternary Ammonium Chloride | 061789-71-1 | Eliminates bacteria in water that produces corrosive by-products | Biocide 


Tetrakis Hydroxymethyl-Phosphonium Sulfate | 055566-30-8 |  Eliminates bacteria in water that produces corrosive by-products | Biocide


Ammonium Persulfate | 007727-54-0 | Allows a delayed break down of the gel | Breaker


Sodium Chloride | 007647-14-5 | Product Stabilizer | Breaker


Magnesium Peroxide | 014452-57-4 | Allows a delayed break down the gel | Breaker


Magnesium Oxide | 001309-48-4 |Allows a delayed break down the gel | Breaker


Calcium Chloride | 010043-52-4 | Product Stabilizer | Breaker


Choline Chloride | 000067-48-1 | Prevents clays from swelling or shifting | Clay Stabilizer


Tetramethyl ammonium chloride | 000075-57-0 | Prevents clays from swelling or shifting | Clay Stabilizer


Sodium Chloride | 007647-14-5 | Prevents clays from swelling or shifting | Clay Stabilizer


Isopropanol | 000067-63-0 | Product stabilizer and / or winterizing agent | Corrosion Inhibitor


Methanol | 000067-56-1 | Product stabilizer and / or winterizing agent | Corrosion Inhibitor


Formic Acid | 000064-18-6 | Prevents corrosion of pipe | Corrosion Inhibitor


Acetaldehyde | 000075-07-0 | Prevents corrosion of pipe | Corrosion Inhibitor


Petroleum Distillate | 064741-85-1| Carrier fluid for borate or zirconate cross linker | Crosslinker


Hydrotreated Light Petroleum Distillate | 064742-47-8 | Carrier fluid for borate or zirconate crosslinker | Crosslinker


Potassium Metaborate | 013709-94-9 | Maintains fluid viscosity as temperature increases | Crosslinker


Triethanolamine Zirconate | 101033-44-7 | Maintains fluid viscosity as temperature increases  | Crosslinker


Sodium Tetraborate | 001303-96-4 | Maintains fluid viscosity as temperature increases | Crosslinker


Boric Acid | 001333-73-9 | Maintains fluid viscosity as temperature increases | Crosslinker


Zirconium Complex | 113184-20-6 | Maintains fluid viscosity as temperature increases | Crosslinker


Borate Salts | N/A | Maintains fluid viscosity as temperature increases | Crosslinker


Ethylene Glycol | 000107-21-1 | Product stabilizer and / or winterizing agent | Crosslinker


Methanol | 000067-56-1 | Product stabilizer and / or winterizing agent | Crosslinker


Polyacrylamide | 009003-05-8 | “Slicks” water to minimize friction | Friction Reducer 


Petroleum Distillate | 064741-85-1 | Carrier fluid for polyacrylamide friction reducer | Friction Reducer


Hydrotreated Light Petroleum Distillate | 064742-47-8 | Carrier fluid for polyacrylamide friction reducer | Friction Reducer


Methanol | 000067-56-1 | Product stabilizer and / or winterizing agent | Friction Reducer


Ethylene Glycol | 000107-21-1 | Product stabilizer and / or winterizing agent | Friction Reducer


Guar Gum | 009000-30-0 | Thickens water in order to suspend sand | Gelling Agent


Petroleum Distillate | 064741-85-1 | Carrier fluid for guar gum in liquid gels | Gelling Agent


Hydrotreated Light Petroleum Distillate | 064742-47-8 | Carrier fluid for guar gum in liquid gels | Gelling Agent


Methanol | 000067-56-1 | Product stabilizer and / or winterizing agent | Gelling Agent


Polysaccharide Blend | 068130-15-4 | Thickens water in order to suspend sand | Gelling Agent


Ethylene Glycol | 000107-21-1 | Product stabilizer and / or winterizing agent | Gelling Agent


Citric Acid | 000077-92-9 | Prevents precipitation of metal oxides | Iron Control


Acetic Acid | 000064-19-7 | Prevents precipitation of metal oxides | Iron Control


Thioglycolic Acid | 000068-11-1 | Prevents precipitation of metal oxides | Iron Control


Sodium Erythorbate | 006381-77-7 | Prevents precipitation of metal oxides | Iron Control


Lauryl Sulfate | 000151-21-3 | Used to prevent formation of emulsions in fracture fluid | Non-Emulsifier


Isopropanol | 000067-63-0 | Product stabilizer and / or winterizing agent | Non-Emulsifier


Ethylene Glycol 000107-21-1 Product stabilizer and / or winterizing agent | Non-Emulsifier


Sodium Hydroxide | 001310-73-2 | Adjusts pH of fluid to maintains effectiveness of other components, such as crosslinkers | pH Adjusting Agent


Potassium Hydroxide 001310-58-3 | Adjusts pH of fluid to maintains effectiveness of other components, such as crosslinkers | pH Adjusting Agent


Acetic Acid | 000064-19-7 | Adjusts pH of fluid to maintains effectiveness of other components, such as crosslinkers | pH Adjusting Agent


Sodium Carbonate | 000497-19-8 | Adjusts pH of fluid to maintains effectiveness of other components, such as crosslinkers | pH Adjusting Agent


Potassium Carbonate | 000584-08-7 | Adjusts pH of fluid to maintains effectiveness of other components, such as crosslinkers | pH Adjusting Agent


Copolymer of Acrylamide and Sodium Acrylate | 025987-30-8 | Prevents scale deposits in  pipe | Scale Inhibitor


Sodium Polycarboxylate  | N/A | Prevents scale deposits in pipe | Scale Inhibitor


Phosphonic Acid Salt | N/A | Prevents scale deposits in pipe | Scale Inhibitor


Lauryl Sulfate | 000151-21-3 | Used to increase viscosity of  fracture | Surfactant


Ethanol | 000064-17-5 | Product stabilizer and / or winterizing agent | Surfactant


Naphthalene | 000091-20-3 | Carrier fluid for active surfactant ingredients | Surfactant


Methanol | 000067-56-1 | Product stabilizer and / or winterizing agent | Surfactant


Isopropyl Alcohol | 000067-63-0 | Product stabilizer and / or winterizing agent | Surfactant


2-Butoxyethanol | 000111-76-2 | Product stabilizer | Surfactant

Sources: www.riverreporter.com/issues/08-12-04/news-fracking.html
http://fracfocus.org/chemical-use/what-chemicals-are-used

Response from General Mills about BPA

I wrote the top three USA food manufacturers and asked what they planned to do about BPA in can liners.  I expected the usual dissembling by company representatives, but I did not think I would not receive an answer from two of the companies.

General Mills did answer my inquiry, but the tone of the email was: research shows BPA to be safe.  We know people would like us to use something other than BPA, so we are looking into alternatives. Does this seem familiar? It reminds me of "cigarettes are perfectly safe," "global warming is a myth," "fracking does not affect water supplies" and "nuclear power is perfectly safe" . . .

---

General Mills can coating
Friday, Aprhowsil 22, 2011 9:54 AM
From: "Consumer Services-Help"
To: undisclosed-recipients

Bisphenol-A (BPA) is a critical component of protective coatings widely used in metal food packaging to help preserve food and maintain its nutritional value and quality. Most canned food and beverage products on the market today use BPA in the can lining or can lid.

Scientific and governmental bodies worldwide have examined the science and concluded that the weight of evidence continues to support the safety of BPA, including comprehensive risk assessments in Japan and in the European Union. While studies continue, food safety regulators are not recommending any specific changes or actions in can lining applications, including those using BPA.

General Mills uses can coatings that fully comply with all applicable global requirements for safe use in food contact materials. But we know that some consumers would like us to pursue alternatives – and we are working intensively with our can suppliers and manufacturers to develop and test linings that do not use BPA. While alternatives have not been identified for all types of foods, we did identify a safe, viable alternative for our tomato products under the Muir Glen brand. We began transitioning those to the alternative cans with the fall 2010 tomato harvest.

With other alternatives currently being tested, we are optimistic that new options will be identified in time. When viable alternative prove safe and effective for other products, we would expect can suppliers and the food industry – in response to consumer interest – to convert to alternative coatings

Sincerely,


General Mills Consumer Services

---

Below is information contained in the article, "Food Packaging and Bisphenol A and Bis(2-Ethylhexyl) Phthalate Exposure: Findings from a Dietary Intervention" in Environmental Health Perspectives.

Hundreds of peer-reviewed studies have linked BPA to a significant list of health and development problems, including birth defects, breast and prostate cancer, early puberty, infertility, obesity, chromosome and reproductive abnormalities, diabetes, heart disease and neurobehavioral problems. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), BPA has been detected in 93 percent of Americans age six and older, confirming persistent exposures occurring throughout the population.

If you wish to read more about the dangers of BPA, please read these previous posts on Endangered Spaces:

B is for Bisphenol A (BPA)
Endangered Spaces blog: Do YOU Approve of Chemicals in Your Home?
Stop Poisoning Our Babies
Poisons in Our Homes
Toxic Toys for Tots

Stay away from food in metal cans.  Frozen foods, foods in glass jars or dehydrated foods do not contain BPA.  If we all quit buying foods in metal cans, the manufacturers will have to face the facts.

Get Out of Our House

GET OUT of OUR HOUSE

GOoOH (Pronounced Go)

If you are concerned about America, please distribute 12 copies of this note.

I respectfully request you visit GOoOH.com and learn about the plan to save our nation.

Will you help us fire the career politicians who are destroying our country?

Would you like to take the special interest money out of politics?

Have you had enough of BOTH of these political parties?

Are you concerned about any of the following?

 Out of control spending and debt

 Blatant government corruption

 Rising unemployment rate

 Failing education system

 A ridiculous tax code

 Illegal immigration

 Career politicians

The time has come to take action

A simple plan exists.

History is being written.

Will you help?

If you care about our nation, help others learn that a solution exists.

Visit GOoOH.com and learn how you can be part of the solution.

If you want to help, please make 12 copies of this document:

 Put on the chairs of co-workers

 Hand to your neighbors and customers

 Tack onto your company’s bulletin board

 Set on a counter, table top, or by the copy machine

 Place copies under a windshield wiper in any parking lot

If you will distribute 12 copies, we the people will retake control of this out of control government

THIS YEAR!

Will you do your part?

 

We are very serious about taking over  the House of Representatives  and installing everyday people who will vote the way they promised during campaigning.  I have filled out my questionnaire.  If asked, I will run for office and serve if elected.  I will do as I have indicated in my answers or refrain from voting.

Texas Burning Out of Control

Photo: LM Otero / AP

Over one million acres of Texas burned in April. High winds, drought conditions and low humidity are fueling the largest outbreak of wildfires in Texas history. With the dry winter and spring and no rain in the forecast, the Texas Forest Service is expecting the fire conditions to continue. This is the driest spring on record, since the Texas Forest Service started keeping records in 1915.

More than 1,000 firefighters from 35 states are helping Texas firefighters battle blazes in iconic areas such as the Davis Mountains, Big Bend, Possum Kingdom Lake and East Texas Pine forests.

God bless these everyday heroes who are risking their lives to battle fires in our state. One firefighter lost his life when fire overtook the fire engine and the firefighters had to run for their lives. Another firefighter was burned over 60 percent of his body.

Our governor has called for Federal help--God help us all, FEMA will be in charge!

Update on Endangered Spaces blog

Hello! I am down in Houston for treatment for various ailments that come with growing older. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers. My laptop went kaput and I am currently without computer access. There are so many laptops that I am a bit overwhelmed trying to select one. If you have a suggestion based on experience, please leave a comment. As soon as I replace my laptop, I will be back to blogging. Namaste CyberCelt

Seventeen Dirty Democrats Join Senate GOP Climate Zombies

These are the Dirty Air Democrats who voted to block, delay or limit the Clean Air Act:

1. Senators. Baucus (D-MT)
2. Begich (D-AK)
3. Hagan (D-NC), Levin (D-MI),
4. Brown (D-OH),
5. Casey (D-PA)
6. Conrad (D-ND),
7. Johnson (D-SD)
8. Klobuchar (D-MN),
9. Pryor (D-AR),
10. Stabenow (D-MI),
11. Landrieu (D-LA),
12. Manchin (D-WV)
13. McCaskill (D-MO)
14. Nelson (D-NE)
15. Rockefeller (D-WV
16. Webb (D-VA)

via Think Progress, April 6, 2011

Blue Skies and Clear Air May Be a Thing of the Past

Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed the "Dirty Air Act", an extreme bill that would permanently strip the EPA of its power to hold polluters accountable under the Clean Air Act. This Act, backed by Big Oil and Dirty Coal and championed by House Republicans, would have disastrous effects on public health and our environment.

Please urge President Obama to make good on his pledge to veto this dangerous bill.

Please contact President Obama to urge him to stand firm on his pledge to veto this bill introduced by Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), the "Dirty Air Act" passed the House with a vote of 255-172 and would:

• Block the EPA from cutting carbon dioxide and other global warming pollutants from coal-fired power plants, oil refineries and other industrial sources. Coal-fired power plants are the largest single source of global warming pollution in the United States.


• Overturn the EPA's scientific determination that global warming pollution poses threats to public health and welfare – essentially saying that Congress knows climate science better than the climate scientists themselves.


• Prevent the EPA – and states – from issuing new standards for cleaner vehicles after 2017, and open up the 2012-2016 federal clean car standards to serious legal challenges. These standards are regarded as one of the easiest ways to cut our reliance on oil and save consumers money at the gas pump

Last year, the Clean Air Act prevented 160,000 premature deaths; 54,000 cases of chronic bronchitis; as well as 41,000 respiratory and 45,000 cardiovascular hospital admissions. It is estimated that if the EPA's ability to enforce clean air standards is weakened, thousands of Americans will die prematurely in the coming years due to toxic air pollution.

Please urge President Obama to make good on his pledge to veto this dangerous bill.

Big Oil, Dirty Coal, the auto industry and other dirty energy interests are working aggressively to render the EPA powerless to protect our air, water and land. Stop them now. They have done enough to pollute the air and water while making millions out of our suffering.

---

Clean Air Act by the Numbers

92% = Drop in airborne lead levels since 1980. The Clean Air Act called for an end to use of lead — an acute neurotoxin that lowers IQ in children and shortens lives — as a gasoline additive. (source)

60 = Number of U.S. metro areas that, without the Clean Air Act, would have higher total suspended particulate concentrations than present-day Moscow. Particulate pollution causes lung cancer, asthma, cardiovascular issues, and premature death. (source)

295 million = Skin-cancer cases averted by 2075, courtesy of the Clean Air Act program eliminating use of ozone-depleting CFCs. (source)

$42 = Quantifiable benefits generated by each dollar invested in Clean Air Act programs during the law’s first 20 years — that’s $523 billion in, $22 trillion out. (source)

30:1 = Benefits-to-cost ratio EPA expects from Clean Air Act programs, 1990–2020. (source PDF)

5% = Amount of tailpipe pollution produced by a typical late-model car, compared with older models. Clean Air Act programs spurred automakers to develop and deploy catalytic converters, computerized emissions-control systems, and other innovative technologies. (source)

13,000 = Lives still cut short each year by pollution from coal-fired power generation. The nation’s coal-burning power plants are the leading source of toxic mercury emissions, and half of them still lack scrubbers and other basic pollution control technologies. (source 1, source 2)

$100 billion = Annual cost of continuing adverse health impacts — deaths, hospitalizations, heart attacks, acute asthma attacks, lost work days — from dirty coal. (source)

2.5 million = Days of missed work or school averted by tightening the “smog rule,” which establishes allowable levels of ground level ozone, from 0.075 ppm to 0.060 ppm.

1.85 billion = Barrels of oil saved over the lifetime of model-year 2012–2016 cars and light-duty trucks, under landmark greenhouse gas standards issued by EPA in April 2010.

960 million = Tons of greenhouse gases conserved by these tailpipe standards, which stem from the Supreme Court's 2007 ruling that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases do meet the Clean Air Act definition of an air pollutant, and EPA's subsequent finding that greenhouse gases do indeed "endanger both the public health and the public welfare of current and future generations."

93% = Percentage of Congressional lawmakers — Democrats and Republicans both — voting Yes on 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, subsequently signed into law by President George H. W. Bush. It remains to be seen if, in today’s polarized political climate, this bipartisan tradition can be preserved or will crumble at the expense of all Americans.

via Environmental Defense Action Fund

Tags: dirty air act, take action, stop cutting EPA's powers, science by congress, global warming, health hazards

Just Say No to to Drilling

Take Action Today

Tell Congress: Say NO to More Offshore Drilling!

Wherever there is drilling, oil spills are inevitable.

Right now, some members of Congress, including Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA), are introducing legislation that would open up vast areas of the ocean to dangerous offshore drilling – and put thousands of marine animals at risk, from threatened sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico, to harp seals and beluga whales in the Arctic Ocean.

Don’t allow another oil spill disaster to happen on our watch. Urge Congress to say NO to reckless legislation that would allow more offshore drilling.

According to Rep. Hastings, "These are just the first three of an array of bills that will be introduced"–bills that would shorten the timeline to approve new drilling and open up vast areas of the Gulf and the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic oceans to dangerous offshore drilling.

Shockingly, the Deepwater Horizon explosion could be considered a "best case scenario" spill – located only 50 miles offshore, close to response and clean-up teams. Yet the response was not quick enough to save the thousands of animals found dead after the spill, and likely many more that were never found. For the whales, harp seals, and walruses in the Arctic, one of the places Big Oil is seeking to drill, help is hundreds of miles away. The consequences of a spill there could exceed the devastation we saw in the Gulf!

On every coast, hundreds of species – from threatened sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico, to harp seals and beluga whales in the Arctic – are put in danger every time a new well is drilled. And it's up to us to protect them.

Take Action Today

Tags: chill the drills, no offshore drilling, gulf of mexico, arctic ocean, atlantic ocean, pacific ocean, no oil spills, take action

Robert Redford Says, "Take Action on Rio Tinto"

I thought you might want to see the following message from Robert Redford, urging people to send a message to mining giant Rio Tinto in opposition to its disastrous Pebble Mine.

Dear Friend,

You should care about Rio Tinto.

This British and Australian-based mining giant has a shocking and well-documented record of toxic contamination that spans the globe: from Indonesia to Bolivia to Utah.

Now, as one of the major backers of the proposed Pebble Mine, it is threatening to destroy one of our greatest natural treasures: the Bristol Bay wilderness of Alaska.

Rio Tinto wants us to believe it has changed its polluting ways. Its chief executive claims they want to have a 'net positive effect' on the environment.

Talk is cheap. Help us put their words to the test.

NRDC - take action

First, watch what they do, not what they say. Their 2,000-foot-deep Pebble Mine would be gouged out of the heart of paradise. It directly threatens the planet's greatest sockeye salmon runs, vital populations of bears, wolves and whales, as well as Native communities that have thrived in Bristol Bay for thousands of years.

The gargantuan gold and copper operation would generate some 10 billion tons of mining waste, laced with toxic chemicals, that must be held back forever by massive earthen dams up to 50 stories tall -- all in an active earthquake zone!

Does that sound like a 'net positive effect' on the environment?

We shouldn't trust any company -- much less a company with Rio Tinto's dismal record -- to take a catastrophic risk with one of our last and greatest wild places.

Next week, Rio Tinto's officers and shareholders will meet in London. Please join me in telling them we are not buying the company's 'kinder, gentler' image until it abandons its stake in the Pebble Mine.

NRDC = take action

NRDC will deliver your message, along with 100,000 others, directly to the shareholders meeting.

The Pebble Mine is an environmental disaster waiting to happen. But to stop it, we must convince Rio Tinto it will be a financial and public relations disaster as well.

Help NRDC get them the message -- and put them to the test -- next week in London. Thank you.

Sincerely,


Robert Redford
Trustee, Natural Resources Defense Council

Tags: pebble mine, rio tinto, bristol bay wilderness, alaska, 10 billion tons of toxic mining waste, robert redford