All Discussions Tagged 'leak' - GoMarcellusShale.com2024-03-28T12:27:15Zhttps://gomarcellusshale.com/forum/topic/listForTag?tag=leak&feed=yes&xn_auth=noCatastrophic Ohio Methane Leak Stayed Hidden Until a Satellite Found Ittag:gomarcellusshale.com,2020-01-05:2274639:Topic:8210942020-01-05T23:42:31.726ZPaul Heckberthttps://gomarcellusshale.com/profile/PaulHeckbert
<p><span>Recent news story: "A blowout in Ohio made little news in 2018, but satellite images show it was a major global event. A little-noticed 2018 methane leak at an Exxon Mobil site in Ohio was one of the worst in recent memory, outpacing the methane emissions from the entire oil and gas industries of many countries. The blown well was pumping 132 tons (120 metric tons) of methane into the atmosphere every hour, give or take 35 tons (32 metric tons). That's nearly double the rate of a much…</span></p>
<p><span>Recent news story: "A blowout in Ohio made little news in 2018, but satellite images show it was a major global event. A little-noticed 2018 methane leak at an Exxon Mobil site in Ohio was one of the worst in recent memory, outpacing the methane emissions from the entire oil and gas industries of many countries. The blown well was pumping 132 tons (120 metric tons) of methane into the atmosphere every hour, give or take 35 tons (32 metric tons). That's nearly double the rate of a much more famous leak reported at a SoCalGas site in Aliso Canyon, California, in 2015."</span></p>
<p><a href="https://www.space.com/giant-methane-leak-exxon-pennsylvania.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.space.com/giant-methane-leak-exxon-pennsylvania.html</a></p>
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<p>You may recall that during the earlier leak, Aliso Canyon was responsible for 20% of California’s methane emissions, so this Ohio leak had almost twice that rate.</p>
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<p>Methane, of course, is 86 times as potent a greenhouse gas as carbon dioxide, so leaks like this are very bad for global warming.</p> Methane leaks from British Columbia wells worse than thoughttag:gomarcellusshale.com,2017-11-28:2274639:Topic:7678162017-11-28T16:48:21.126ZPaul Heckberthttps://gomarcellusshale.com/profile/PaulHeckbert
<p>In British Columbia (BC) and Alberta, large quantities of methane are leaking out of the well bore, through flaws in the casing and cement, being released into the air. This is bad not just because it's a waste of money, but also because methane is a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, accelerating global warming, and because methane migration likely points to leakage of fracking chemicals, which could contaminate water aquifers.…</p>
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<p>In British Columbia (BC) and Alberta, large quantities of methane are leaking out of the well bore, through flaws in the casing and cement, being released into the air. This is bad not just because it's a waste of money, but also because methane is a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, accelerating global warming, and because methane migration likely points to leakage of fracking chemicals, which could contaminate water aquifers.</p>
<p><strong><span class="font-size-5">Despite What Politicians Say, Hundreds of BC Gas Wells Leak Methane</span></strong></p>
<p>Industry regulator withheld data from government for four years.<br/><a href="https://thetyee.ca/News/2017/11/23/Hundreds-of-BC-Gas-Wells-Leak-Meth/">https://thetyee.ca/News/2017/11/23/Hundreds-of-BC-Gas-Wells-Leak-Meth/</a></p>
<p>One of the sources cited in the above report is Anthony Ingraffea of Cornell University, an expert on Marcellus shale formations.</p>
<p><br/><strong><span class="font-size-5">Alberta methane releases underestimated: ‘If we thought it was bad, it’s worse’</span></strong></p>
<p><a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/3808448/alberta-methane-releases-underestimated-if-we-thought-it-was-bad-its-worse/">https://globalnews.ca/news/3808448/alberta-methane-releases-underestimated-if-we-thought-it-was-bad-its-worse/</a></p>
<p>tags: pollution,methane,leak,migration,contamination,"global warming","climate change"</p> Natural gas emissions will blow Europe's carbon budget at current levelstag:gomarcellusshale.com,2017-11-13:2274639:Topic:7663972017-11-13T00:41:09.151ZPaul Heckberthttps://gomarcellusshale.com/profile/PaulHeckbert
<p><span>"Governments have been underestimating methane emissions from gas and must phase out the fossil fuel, along with coal and oil, by 2035 to keep within Paris climate targets, a major study shows."</span></p>
<p><span>“Considering both carbon dioxide and methane emissions, an urgent programme to phase out existing natural gas and other fossil fuel use across the EU is an imperative of any scientifically informed and equity-based policies designed to deliver on the Paris…</span></p>
<p><span>"Governments have been underestimating methane emissions from gas and must phase out the fossil fuel, along with coal and oil, by 2035 to keep within Paris climate targets, a major study shows."</span></p>
<p><span>“Considering both carbon dioxide and methane emissions, an urgent programme to phase out existing natural gas and other fossil fuel use across the EU is an imperative of any scientifically informed and equity-based policies designed to deliver on the Paris agreement,”</span></p>
<p><span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/nov/07/natural-gas-emissions-will-blow-europes-carbon-budget-at-current-levels">https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/nov/07/natural-gas-emissions-will-blow-europes-carbon-budget-at-current-levels</a></span></p>
<p><span><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/97619472?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/97619472?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></span></p> Massive Methane Leak in California - Worst Catastrophe Since BP Spill?tag:gomarcellusshale.com,2015-12-26:2274639:Topic:7106952015-12-26T15:31:25.909ZPaul Heckberthttps://gomarcellusshale.com/profile/PaulHeckbert
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<p>"Since initially reporting on California's Aliso Canyon gas leak, more details have emerged on the scale (and potential for no solution) of the problem as the infamous Erin Brockovich writes, "the enormity of the Aliso Canyon gas leak cannot be overstated. Gas is escaping through a ruptured pipe more than 8,000 feet underground, and it shows no signs of stopping," as according to the California Air Resources Board, methane - a <strong>greenhouse gas 72 times more…</strong></p>
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<p>"Since initially reporting on California's Aliso Canyon gas leak, more details have emerged on the scale (and potential for no solution) of the problem as the infamous Erin Brockovich writes, "the enormity of the Aliso Canyon gas leak cannot be overstated. Gas is escaping through a ruptured pipe more than 8,000 feet underground, and it shows no signs of stopping," as according to the California Air Resources Board, methane - a <strong>greenhouse gas 72 times more impactful in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide</strong> - has been escaping from the Aliso Canyon site with force equivalent “to a volcanic eruption” for about two months now."</p>
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<p>The leak includes <strong>not just methane but benzene (a carcinogen) also</strong>. Despite frantic efforts, the leak can't be stopped until Spring.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-12-24/unstoppable-california-gas-leak-now-being-called-worst-catastrophe-bp-spill">http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-12-24/unstoppable-california-gas-leak-now-being-called-worst-catastrophe-bp-spill</a></p>
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<p>I understand that Delmont, in Westmoreland County, PA, has a huge methane storage well, also. Let's hope it doesn't leak. <a href="http://old.post-gazette.com/healthscience/19990322gas2.asp">http://old.post-gazette.com/healthscience/19990322gas2.asp</a></p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/97616998?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/97616998?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p> database of complaints to DEPtag:gomarcellusshale.com,2015-09-17:2274639:Topic:6974292015-09-17T22:50:18.108ZPaul Heckberthttps://gomarcellusshale.com/profile/PaulHeckbert
<p>Public Herald has scanned, mapped, and shared a number of citizens' complaints made to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) concerning gas operations.</p>
<p><a href="http://publicherald.org/public-herald-30-month-report-finds-dep-fracking-complaint-investigations-are-cooked/">http://publicherald.org/public-herald-30-month-report-finds-dep-fracking-complaint-investigations-are-cooked/</a></p>
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<p>Map of Pennsylvania counties colored according to the number of…</p>
<p>Public Herald has scanned, mapped, and shared a number of citizens' complaints made to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) concerning gas operations.</p>
<p><a href="http://publicherald.org/public-herald-30-month-report-finds-dep-fracking-complaint-investigations-are-cooked/">http://publicherald.org/public-herald-30-month-report-finds-dep-fracking-complaint-investigations-are-cooked/</a></p>
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<p>Map of Pennsylvania counties colored according to the number of DEP complaint investigations in each. Purple means 400 or more complaints; shades of red mean fewer than 400. Gray means data not yet available.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/97616098?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/97616098?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
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<p>Washington County has a lot. If we go to <a href="http://publicfiles.org/">http://publicfiles.org/</a> and click on COMPLAINTS and then SWRO (Southwest Regional Office) and then WASHINGTON COUNTY we get this map, color-coded by municipality. For example, Mount Pleasant Township, near Hickory, has many complaints. The statewide database currently includes scans of documents from about 2300 complaint cases (leaking gas, property damage, pollution, etc), e.g. <a href="http://publicfiles.org/complaints/washington-county/">http://publicfiles.org/complaints/washington-county/</a></p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/97616091?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/97616091?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
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<p>This database will help hold the DEP accountable; a very good thing.</p> Regulating methane, which is leaking faster than thoughttag:gomarcellusshale.com,2015-08-22:2274639:Topic:6940402015-08-22T02:32:51.019ZPaul Heckberthttps://gomarcellusshale.com/profile/PaulHeckbert
<p class="p1">Methane has been in the news this week:</p>
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<p class="p1">1. <strong>Methane Leaks in Natural-Gas Supply Chain Far Exceed Estimates, Study Says</strong></p>
<p class="p1">“A little-noted portion of the chain of pipelines and equipment that brings natural gas from the field into power plants and homes is responsible for a surprising amount of methane emissions, according to a study published on Tuesday. <strong>Natural-gas gathering facilities</strong>, which…</p>
<p class="p1">Methane has been in the news this week:</p>
<p class="p2"></p>
<p class="p1">1. <strong>Methane Leaks in Natural-Gas Supply Chain Far Exceed Estimates, Study Says</strong></p>
<p class="p1">“A little-noted portion of the chain of pipelines and equipment that brings natural gas from the field into power plants and homes is responsible for a surprising amount of methane emissions, according to a study published on Tuesday. <strong>Natural-gas gathering facilities</strong>, which collect from multiple wells, lose about 100 billion cubic feet of natural gas a year, about eight times as much as estimates used by the Environmental Protection Agency … The newly discovered leaks, if counted in the E.P.A. inventory, would increase its entire systemwide estimate by about 25 percent.”</p>
<p class="p1"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/19/science/methane-leaks-in-natural-gas-supply-chain-far-exceed-estimates-study-says.html">http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/19/science/methane-leaks-in-natural-gas-supply-chain-far-exceed-estimates-study-says.html</a></p>
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<p class="p1">2. <strong>Methane Leaks May Greatly Exceed Estimates, Report Says</strong></p>
<p class="p1">“A device commonly used to measure the methane that leaks from industrial sources may greatly underestimate those emissions, said an inventor of the technology that the device relies on.”</p>
<p class="p1">The report found that the <strong>Bacharach Hi Flow Sampler</strong>, the methane sensor in use around the world, can greatly underestimate methane levels in some situations.</p>
<p class="p1"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/05/science/methane-leaks-may-greatly-exceed-estimates-report-says.html">http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/05/science/methane-leaks-may-greatly-exceed-estimates-report-says.html</a></p>
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<p class="p1">3. Methane is a much more potent greenhouse gas (causes more global warming) than carbon dioxide. 30 times more, by one measure. Over half of the methane released into Earth's atmosphere is anthropogenic, not natural. Within anthropogenic methane emissions, the two biggest contributors are livestock and the energy industry, and the latter is growing, because of the natural gas industry.</p>
<p class="p1"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_methane">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_methane</a></p>
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<p class="p1">4. <strong>E.P.A. Announces New Rules to Cut Methane Emissions</strong></p>
<p class="p1">“The Obama administration on Tuesday proposed the first federal regulations requiring the nation’s oil and gas industry to cut emissions of methane as part of an expanding and increasingly aggressive effort to combat climate change. … The rules were designed to ensure that oil and gas companies reduced waste and sold more gas that would otherwise be lost, while protecting the climate and the health of the public. … The proposals — which would require drillers to stop leaks and capture lost gas even in wells intended to extract only oil — would cost the industry up to $420 million to carry out by 2025, but that there would be savings, including reduced waste, of as much as $550 million during that period, bringing a net benefit of as much as $150 million. …</p>
<p class="p2">The administration has set a goal of reducing methane emissions by 40 to 45 percent from 2012 levels by 2025. The latest proposed regulations are expected to reduce methane emissions by 20 to 30 percent. … Oil and gas companies oppose the proposals, calling them unnecessary and costly, while environmental advocacy groups say they do not go far enough because <strong>they apply mainly to new wells and not most existing ones</strong>.”</p>
<p class="p1"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/19/us/epa-announces-new-rules-to-cut-methane-emissions.html">http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/19/us/epa-announces-new-rules-to-cut-methane-emissions.html</a></p>
<p class="p2"></p> NY physicians warn about compressor stations' pollutiontag:gomarcellusshale.com,2015-08-18:2274639:Topic:6932082015-08-18T20:24:19.972ZPaul Heckberthttps://gomarcellusshale.com/profile/PaulHeckbert
<p>"<span>Concerned about the potential health effects from compressor stations and other infrastructure connected to the shale gas industry, some local officials have joined a prominent physicians' group in urging [New York] state leaders to conduct [a study]. ...</span></p>
<p>The Medical Society of the State of New York, a physicians' association, noted compressor stations routinely vent methane gas, and noted chemical and radioactive emissions not only occur near well pads but also along…</p>
<p>"<span>Concerned about the potential health effects from compressor stations and other infrastructure connected to the shale gas industry, some local officials have joined a prominent physicians' group in urging [New York] state leaders to conduct [a study]. ...</span></p>
<p>The Medical Society of the State of New York, a physicians' association, noted compressor stations routinely vent methane gas, and noted chemical and radioactive emissions not only occur near well pads but also along pipelines.</p>
<p>The organization went on to state that the <strong>emissions include "dangerous mixtures" of carcinogens, mutagens, endocrine disruptors, neurotoxins, respiratory irritants and hematological and cardiovascular toxins.</strong>"</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.thedailystar.com/news/local_news/officials-urge-study-of-compressors-pipelines/article_6c0a7729-75f7-59be-a76e-2e3bd48e98e9.html">http://www.thedailystar.com/news/local_news/officials-urge-study-of-compressors-pipelines/article_6c0a7729-75f7-59be-a76e-2e3bd48e98e9.html</a></p> Undisclosed industry funding prompts correction of fracking papertag:gomarcellusshale.com,2015-06-01:2274639:Topic:6776812015-06-01T18:20:09.606ZPaul Heckberthttps://gomarcellusshale.com/profile/PaulHeckbert
<p>In scientific research papers, it's good to know the author's funding source.</p>
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<p><a href="http://retractionwatch.com/2015/05/08/undisclosed-industry-funding-prompts-correction-of-fracking-paper/">http://retractionwatch.com/2015/05/08/undisclosed-industry-funding-prompts-correction-of-fracking-paper/</a></p>
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<p><em><a href="http://pubs.acs.org/toc/esthag/current">Environmental Science & Technology</a></em> has issued a correction for a March 2015 paper on methane…</p>
<p>In scientific research papers, it's good to know the author's funding source.</p>
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<p><a href="http://retractionwatch.com/2015/05/08/undisclosed-industry-funding-prompts-correction-of-fracking-paper/">http://retractionwatch.com/2015/05/08/undisclosed-industry-funding-prompts-correction-of-fracking-paper/</a></p>
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<p><em><a href="http://pubs.acs.org/toc/esthag/current">Environmental Science & Technology</a></em> has issued a correction for a March 2015 paper on methane contamination from gas wells after learning that the authors failed to disclose funding from Chesapeake Energy Corp., a major U.S. energy producer.</p>
<p>The paper, “<a href="http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es505775c">Methane Concentrations in Water Wells Unrelated to Proximity to Existing Oil and Gas Wells in Northeastern Pennsylvania</a>,” came from a group led by Donald Siegel, of Syracuse University. The correction <a href="http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.est.5b01800#">states</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>The authors thank the Chesapeake Energy Corporation for access to their baseline groundwater data set for NE Pennsylvania and for providing funding for the authors through their organizations of employment, and privately, in the case of the senior author, to do basic research to explore and evaluate this very large data set. ... The lead author was funded privately by Chesapeake for this work.</p>
</blockquote> better detection of methane leakstag:gomarcellusshale.com,2013-08-08:2274639:Topic:4832542013-08-08T02:58:34.430ZPaul Heckberthttps://gomarcellusshale.com/profile/PaulHeckbert
<p>Excerpt of news article:</p>
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<p class="p1">"The detector, built by <a href="http://www.picarro.com/"><span class="s1">Picarro, a manufacturer of scientific instruments</span></a> that has recently moved into the field of portable methane detection, is able to determine whether the gas originated from wells or was produced by the bacteria in swamps, landfills and sewers. Distinguishing between the two can prevent industrial polluters from plausibly denying that they have leaks.…</p>
<p>Excerpt of news article:</p>
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<p class="p1">"The detector, built by <a href="http://www.picarro.com/"><span class="s1">Picarro, a manufacturer of scientific instruments</span></a> that has recently moved into the field of portable methane detection, is able to determine whether the gas originated from wells or was produced by the bacteria in swamps, landfills and sewers. Distinguishing between the two can prevent industrial polluters from plausibly denying that they have leaks.</p>
<p class="p1">The system was demonstrated in 2011, when researchers bolted it in the trunk of a car that drove through the streets of Boston, a city with a labyrinth of aging underground gas pipelines. In a peer-reviewed scientific journal last year, <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749112004800"><span class="s1">the researchers said</span></a> they had found 3,356 leaks of methane, and some with concentrations 15 times normal methane levels in the atmosphere. ...</p>
<p class="p1">The <a href="http://www.picarrosurveyor.com/"><span class="s1">Picarro detector works like this</span></a>: An inlet tube takes in air samples, which are sent to a chamber in the trunk of the car. The chamber, about the size of a drum major’s baton with mirrors at either end, bounces a laser back and forth between the two mirrors thousands of times, like a fold-up yardstick. The laser’s path is ultimately several miles long and so is able to precisely measure concentrations of methane in the range of parts per billion.</p>
<p class="p1">An anemometer, an instrument for measuring wind speed and direction, is mounted on top of the car, as is a GPS device. In some models, an inlet pipe samples air from various elevations. The system uses an onboard computer to turn the readings into a three-dimensional model of a gas plume — a funnel-shaped flow of contamination — and calculates the location and size of the origin. Methane molecules incorporate a carbon atom of two different types, one more commonly found in gas from wells and the other in gas from landfills and sewers. Studying the ratio, the instrument can say where the gas came from.</p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><a href="http://www.picarro.com/about/company_information/management_team/michael_woelk">Michael R. Woelk</a></span>, president and chief executive of Picarro, said the advantage of the detector was that it could be used on public roads to locate leaks on private property."</p>
<p class="p1"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/07/business/energy-environment/new-tools-pinpoint-natural-gas-leaks-maximizing-a-fuels-green-qualities.html?src=rechp">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/07/business/energy-environment/new-tools-pinpoint-natural-gas-leaks-maximizing-a-fuels-green-qualities.html</a></p>
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<p class="p1"><a href="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2013/08/07/business/Gas1/Gas1-popup.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2013/08/07/business/Gas1/Gas1-popup.jpg" class="align-full"/></a></p>