Colorado Fracking Operation Ordered Shut Down After Second Earthquake In A Month

More and more, small but significant earthquakes are being linked with fracking. Yesterday, an unusual step by the generally pro fracking Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission ordered a large fracking operation by Greely, CO, to shut down due to a second earthquake in a month.

The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission directed High Sierra Water Services to stop injecting water into the well after a team of University of Colorado seismologists recorded a 2.6-magnitute earthquake Monday afternoon. The team began monitoring the region after a 3.4-magnitude earthquake shook the Greeley area on May 31.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/colorado-officials-shut-down-drilling-waste-well-in-greeley-after-2nd-earthquake-in-less-than-month06242014?autoplay=true

 

Here’s what I’m wondering. They go miles underground, and crack, essentially, the foundation for the amazing farmland right above it, then they pull all of the trapped gas out, are they creating giant cavities that could potentially create giant sinkholes? How do they know they are not??

Also, the gas coming from these wells are so volatile, they are diffucult and dangerous to transport and difficult to refine.

 

Oil from North Dakota’s Bakken Shale field has already been identified as combustible by investigators looking into explosions that followed train derailments in the past year.

But high gas levels also are affecting oil pumped from the Niobrara Shale in Colorado and the Eagle Ford Shale and Permian Basin in Texas, energy executives and experts say.

Even the refineries reaping big profits from the new oil, which is known as ultralight, are starting to complain about how hard it is to handle with existing equipment. Some of what is being pumped isn’t even crude, but condensate: gas trapped underground that becomes a liquid on the surface.

http://online.wsj.com/articles/oil-from-u-s-fracking-is-more-volatile-than-expected-1403653344

 

 

There have been a lot of gas explosions lately, flattening entire neighborhoods. Could this be from the high volatility of the fracked gas..?

Could the excess volatility be from bacteria in the fracking fluid that creates hydrogen sulfide?

 

These organic acids are added to control pH, but are also ideal sources of carbon for bacterial growth. Acetate and formate from a flowback sample is shown in Figure 3. Bacterial growth in fracking waters can result in the production of hydrogen sulfide which is very toxic and causes increased odor and corrosion issues.

http://www.dionex.com/en-us/webdocs/114726-WP70693-IC-Anions-OA-Fracking-Wastewater_E.pdf

Hydrogen sulfide is the chemical compound with the formula H 2S. It is a colorless gas with the characteristic foul odor of rotten eggs; it is heavier than air, very poisonous, corrosive, flammable, and explosive – Wiki

 

Are we introducing this poisonous gas into our homes by using this “natural gas”??