January 11, 2012 (Press-News.org) The Business of Mining for Natural Gas
According to some reports, the United States is now the world's largest producer of natural gas - and natural gas is a resource that former oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens from Amarillo, Texas, has been pushing for years.
Pickens is an advocate of natural gas legislation. His goal is to get America free of foreign oil by way of converting diesel-burning 18-wheelers to natural gas. If achieved, this would be a significant step toward energy independence.
And what is playing a very large role in helping Pickens achieve his goal?
It's the controversial process of hydraulic fracturing.
What is Hydraulic Fracturing?
Hydraulic fracturing (also known as "fracking") is the process of injecting a pressurized mixture of water and chemicals into the earth through a borehole in shale formations - shale is sedimentary rock - with the goal of extracting the natural gas trapped below.
The Eagle Ford Shale in West Texas is one example of a formation with significant amounts of natural gas deposits. In fact, hydraulic fracturing has transformed some Texas areas into modern "gold-rush" boomtowns, like Karnes County, much of which covers the Eagle Ford Shale.
Bumps in the Road
But as Mark Collette reports for the Corpus Christi Caller Times, new oil and gas wells require a tremendous amount of materials that must be hauled by large trucks - from 365 to 1,730 truckloads - which translates to a "bumpier, more dangerous ride" as roads deteriorate.
The Texas Department of Transportation's Tom Tagliabue said that Karnes County maintenance workers have become road-building workers in an attempt to keep up with the deterioration. And in Karnes County alone, truckers hauling more than the 80,000 pound limit pulled 5,185 special permits in 2011.
The loads and the motor vehicle traffic aren't getting any lighter.
Truck Accidents and Oilfield Injuries
An explosion in late September 2011 involving a truck hauling 45 barrels of hot oil is one example of the type of oilfield injuries that can happen on the Eagle Ford Shale, given the type of work being done - not to mention the common causes of truck accidents, from being overloaded to speeding.
Ana Ley reports that backflow on the truck caused a fire, which led to an explosion. The incident caused oil drilling injuries to two employees.
Jason Reyes, with the Texas Department of Public Safety, said, "It just so happened that this individual [the truck driver] was transferring the load and was in close proximity to it," referring to the fire that caused second- and third-degree burns.
The Dallas office of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration was said to have opened an investigation. At the time of Ley's report, it wasn't clear whether there had been any safety violations.
Environmental Concerns
In addition to the possible increase in accidents in Karnes County and throughout the Eagle Ford Shale play - from motor vehicle accidents to pipeline explosions - there has been an increase in public concern over the environmental impact of hydraulic fracturing.
As Tara Patel reports for Bloomberg, CEO Gerard Mestrallet of France-based GDF Suez, Europe's biggest gas company, has spoken out about improving the process of hydraulic fracturing to reduce its environmental impact. Mestrallet said, "Probably it [hydraulic fracturing] can be improved and probably it has to be improved."
On June 30, 2011, France became the first country to ban hydraulic fracturing.
Some scientists and environmentalists worry about the risk of groundwater contamination from the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, which could lead to environmental injuries from dangerous drinking water (though supporters of hydraulic fracturing claim the process takes place far below the water table).
U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu recently said that hydraulic fracturing could result in "serious environmental damage," as Patel reports, unless best practices measures are in place.
There has been public opposition to hydraulic fracturing in other mining areas, including the Marcellus Formation in New York and Pennsylvania, leading New York to ban hydraulic fracturing for a period of time.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo lifted the ban in July 2011.
Article provided by The Law Offices of Tyler & Peery
Visit us at www.tylerandpeery.com
Toward Energy Independence? Not Without Bumps in the Road
The business of getting energy doesn't come without a price. From the impact of hydraulic fracturing on the environment to pipeline explosions, oil and gas workers and local residents will continue to get hurt from oil and gas extraction.
2012-01-11
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
New Foreclosure Laws in Florida May Restrict Access to Courts
2012-01-11
The global recession has had an impact on every one of us. While the economy is showing small signs of improvement, problems still remain. When the economy collapsed, it hit the housing market especially hard. Florida was one of the states that saw foreclosure rates skyrocket. Homeowners statewide were hit with mortgage payments that they could not afford, and home values dropped substantially.
The foreclosure process in Florida provided some protection to those who were struggling to make ends meet. Banks and lenders had to follow specific requirements before a foreclosure ...
Attempted Deportation of U.S. Citizen Highlights Flaws, Trends in Immigration System
2012-01-11
In 2008 the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agency attempted to deport a lawful U.S. citizen as part of an aggressive campaign to deport illegal immigrants with criminal records. The man, who had in actuality been a U.S. citizen since 1975, was arrested during a crosscheck of federal databases and detained for 43 days.
His story serves as the backdrop for a national trend in the immigration system that reveals several flaws and opportunities for potentially unlawful questioning and even improper deportation of properly documented citizens.
One issue with ...
U.S. Supreme Court Reviews Generic Drug Warning Label Requirements
2012-01-11
A variety of defective products or substandard care can cause serious setbacks to people who seek out medical treatment. Defective drugs and medical devices, faulty hip replacement technology, medical malpractice and other negligence present real risks to individuals who are injured or ill and trust that they will receive proper care to remedy a medical condition.
One important development in 2011 regarding safety warnings for prescription drugs came out of the US Supreme Court. In PLIVA, Inc. v. Mensing, a narrow majority held that federal labeling regulations applicable ...
Healing the iPhone's wounds
2012-01-11
PITTSBURGH -- Like the human body, a digital device often suffers a few bruises and scratches within a lifetime. As in medicine, these injuries can be easily detected and repaired (or healed). At other times, however, a digital device may sustain hard-to-pinpoint nanoscale scratches, which can cause the device as a whole to malfunction.
In a paper published today, Jan. 10, in Nature Nanotechnology, a team of researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass) propose a "repair-and-go" approach to fixing malfunctions caused ...
Register as a Sex Offender for a Non-Sex Crime Conviction?
2012-01-11
In Texas, it is possible to be considered a sex offender and forced to register as such without committing a sex offense. Upon parole, parolees who committed offenses that are defined as reportable convictions or adjudications under Texas law can be forced to register as a sex offender and have other restrictive conditions imposed upon them.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, upholding a trial court ruling, however, held that parolees who were not convicted of a sex offense cannot be labeled and forced to register as sex offenders without a hearing. The court stated ...
High rates of disability and health care use found in older Americans with cirrhosis
2012-01-11
Older patients with cirrhosis have significant functional disability, require twice the amount of informal caregiving, and contribute added strain on the health care system, according to U-M research published in Hepatology.
Given the increase in obesity and aging of those with hepatitis C (HCV), researchers expect the prevalence of cirrhosis to climb among older Americans..
Cirrhosis is a chronic condition that causes the liver to slowly deteriorate, with scar tissue replacing healthy tissue and impairing liver function. Studies have shown that non-alcoholic fatty ...
Inflammation may link obesity and adverse pregnancy outcomes
2012-01-11
Amsterdam, NL -- A number of different immunological mechanisms ensure the successful establishment and maintenance of pregnancy. Imbalance in these mechanisms is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. In a review published in Advances in Neuroimmune Biology, researchers from the Institute of Life Science, College of Medicine at Swansea University in the UK examine the impact of maternal obesity on the inflammatory responses in tissues of both the mother and the child.
"While great progress has been made in elucidating the immunological mechanisms that ensure reproductive ...
FTC Rules on Deceptive Debt Relief Practices Continue to Evolve
2012-01-11
They are wolves posing as shepherds. Companies that claim they will lead you out of debt quickly and often just want to take your last dollar -- leaving you more exposed to creditors than ever.
If the economy weren't so bad, these companies would be more recognizable for what they really are: predators. But debt and desperation have a way of playing tricks with your vision. What seems like a viable way out from a mountain of debt can turn out to be a counter-productive mirage unless you're careful at avoiding fraud and finding the legitimate services you need.
Keep ...
NASA'S RXTE helps pinpoint launch of 'bullets' in a black hole's jet
2012-01-11
Using observations from NASA's Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) satellite and the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) radio telescope, an international team of astronomers has identified the moment when a black hole in our galaxy launched super-fast knots of gas into space.
Racing outward at about one-quarter the speed of light, these "bullets" of ionized gas are thought to arise from a region located just outside the black hole's event horizon, the point beyond which nothing can escape.
"Like a referee at a sports game, we essentially ...
New York Court of Appeals Rules on Workers' Compensation Reforms
2012-01-11
In 2007, the New York Legislature unanimously passed sweeping reforms to the state's workers' compensation laws.
Included among the reforms was a requirement that insurers deposit the present value of permanent partial disability awards into the New York Workers' Compensation Aggregate Trust Fund. Injured workers will then be paid by the trust fund instead of by the insurance company.
The reform is definitely a boon to injured workers. Prior to the change, insurance companies generally decided how and when a workers' compensation settlement would be paid. Further, ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Research on past hurricanes aims to reduce future risk
UT Health San Antonio, UTSA researchers receive prestigious 2025 Hill Prizes for medicine and technology
Panorama of our nearest galactic neighbor unveils hundreds of millions of stars
A chain reaction: HIV vaccines can lead to antibodies against antibodies
Bacteria in polymers form cables that grow into living gels
Rotavirus protein NSP4 manipulates gastrointestinal disease severity
‘Ding-dong:’ A study finds specific neurons with an immune doorbell
A major advance in biology combines DNA and RNA and could revolutionize cancer treatments
Neutrophil elastase as a predictor of delivery in pregnant women with preterm labor
NIH to lead implementation of National Plan to End Parkinson’s Act
Growth of private equity and hospital consolidation in primary care and price implications
Online advertising of compounded glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists
Health care utilization and costs for older adults aging into Medicare after the affordable care act
Reading the genome and understanding evolution: Symbioses and gene transfer in leaf beetles
Brains of people with sickle cell disease appear older
Elena Belova and Yevgeny Raitses recognized for groundbreaking plasma physics research
SOX9 overexpression ameliorates metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis through activation of the AMPK pathway
Florescent probes illuminate cholesterol and Alzheimer’s research
Qigong significantly decreases chronic low back pain in US military veterans
New insights into pancreatic disease and diabetes
Effectiveness and safety of tenofovir amibufenamide in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B: A real-world, multicenter study
Higher costs limit attendance for life changing cardiac rehab
Over 500 patients receive diagnosis through genetic reanalysis
Brain changes in Huntington’s disease decades before diagnosis will guide future prevention trials
U of A astronomers capture unprecedented view of supermassive black hole in action
Astrophysicists reveal structure of 74 exocomet belts orbiting nearby stars in landmark survey
Textbooks need to be rewritten: RNA, not DNA, is the main cause of acute sunburn
Brits still associate working-class accents with criminal behavior – study warns of bias in the criminal justice system
What do you think ‘guilty’ sounds like? Scientists find accent stereotypes influence beliefs about who commits crimes
University of Calgary nursing study envisions child trauma treatment through a Marvel and DC lens
[Press-News.org] Toward Energy Independence? Not Without Bumps in the RoadThe business of getting energy doesn't come without a price. From the impact of hydraulic fracturing on the environment to pipeline explosions, oil and gas workers and local residents will continue to get hurt from oil and gas extraction.