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posted by on Thursday February 23 2017, @07:19AM   Printer-friendly
from the it's-just-sugar-water dept.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-39032748

Up to 16% of hydraulically fractured oil and gas wells spill liquids every year, according to new research from US scientists. They found that there had been 6,600 releases from these fracked wells over a ten-year period in four states. The biggest problems were reported in oil-rich North Dakota where 67% of the spills were recorded. The largest spill recorded involved 100,000 litres of fluid with most related to storing and moving liquids.

[...] A [previous] study carried out by the US Environment Protection Agency on fracking in eight states between 2006 and 2012 concluded that 457 spills had occurred. But this new study, while limited to just four states with adequate data, suggests the level of spills is much higher. The researchers found 6,648 spills between 2005 and 2014.

"The EPA just looked at spills from the hydraulic fracturing process itself which is just a few days to a few weeks," lead author Dr Lauren Patterson from Duke University told BBC News. "We're looking at spills at unconventional wells from the time of the drilling through production which could be decades."

Patterson, et.al. Unconventional Oil and Gas Spills: Risks, Mitigation Priorities, and State Reporting Requirements Environ. Sci. Technol. DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b05749

-- submitted from IRC


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  • (Score: 3, Funny) by Whoever on Thursday February 23 2017, @07:35AM

    by Whoever (4524) on Thursday February 23 2017, @07:35AM (#470638) Journal

    Coming from some posters:

    But the sun doesn't shine 24 hours/day! Renewables cannot be used!

    Starting Score:    1  point
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  • (Score: 1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 23 2017, @10:47AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 23 2017, @10:47AM (#470660)

    I don't think anyone has said solar can't be used, but it does have the problem of a very large part of it can't be stored currently, so it can't be used all by itself, and that is also the problem of windpower. I think you are just being a douche trying to stir up the pot with that comment.

    • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 23 2017, @06:22PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 23 2017, @06:22PM (#470805)

      GP should have referenced Soylindra. We can't use solar because government shouldn't pick and choose winners, so we should pick oil as the winner. Also, do the patriotic thing and buy some of Ivanka's Trump Shoes.

  • (Score: 2) by BananaPhone on Thursday February 23 2017, @06:30PM

    by BananaPhone (2488) on Thursday February 23 2017, @06:30PM (#470809)

    The real solution is to use cleaner fuels like Thorium/Uranium.
    But none of the Active high-pressure water kettle designs that caused disasters in Russia and Japan.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 23 2017, @11:35PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 23 2017, @11:35PM (#470958)

      Thorium is good, fusion is better, evaporating black holes is better still, and charm-anticharm annihilation is best.