Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Dan on January 28, 2011 at 8:43pm

Thanks for the update James.

Permalink Reply by James Harber on February 2, 2011 at 5:21am

Dan, I guess you know that CHK is preparing to frac the Buell well now. The have made a separate road into the property  and are moving in 30 frac tanks to hold the water for the fracing operations, quite alot of activity up there. I just thought you'd like to know that information.

Permalink Reply by Dan on February 2, 2011 at 5:35am

Thanks for the update James.  Do you know why they need a separate road?

Permalink Reply by James Harber on February 2, 2011 at 5:49am

There isn't enough room on the current pad site since it is on top of a ridge. The area they have been getting ready for the frac tanks and frac pump trucks and other personnel needs to be a large flat surface for trucks and equipment staging. It is quite a site to see if you've never seen a fracing operation.

Permalink Reply by James Harber on February 4, 2011 at 4:54am

I wanted to update you on the Buell well, the alternate site is along Bell Road. CHK is leveling off a site there as of yesterday where they have approx. 30 frac tanks to hold water and eventually frac solution for fracing the well. This site is at least a quarter to a half mile away from the rig. They are going to run a pipeline over the ground to the rig to which they will utilize this area for 2 reasons, it is flat and it is along the side of Bell Road making easier access for the trucks and equipment to be accessible. Take a drive by on Bell Road it is quite a site to see.

Permalink Reply by Dan on February 4, 2011 at 6:20am

I saw it yesterday, and it sure is a site to behold.

Here's all the pipe they are going to use to connect over to the well head.

 

 

 

Will the fluid traveling that distance be just raw water, or will it be the the actual frac fluid?  I'm wondering about the danger if that line would rupture and send all that fluid down the valley and right into the Harrison Forest campground...

Permalink Reply by Nate on February 4, 2011 at 6:59am

The frac additives are added to the blender that the water goes through just before going into the well. So the purpose of these pipes is to haul fresh water from where the majority of tanks are located to where the frac equipment will be.

Permalink Reply by Dan on February 4, 2011 at 7:28am

Thanks Nate, that makes sense.  It is so great to have your brain on this forum! While I do...

So then once they have injected all that water down there, and it has worked its fracing wonders, then what happens with all that water? Doesn't some/most of it get pumped back out and hauled away?  At that point will they pump it back through those lines and fill back up those tankers so they can go to some disposal facility?

Permalink Reply by FXEF on February 4, 2011 at 2:52pm

Dan,

The slickwater (frac fluid) will return to the surface during flowback. Usually the flowback water is trucked directly from the well site to a disposal facility, however if the well site is not readily accessible to truck traffic it may be piped back to the tanks, then hauled off. It will require ~7-8 million gallons of water for the fracture process.

Permalink Reply by Nate on February 4, 2011 at 3:16pm

if companies have a number of wells to frac at the same pad they try to filter their watert out and reuse it

Permalink Reply by Dan on February 5, 2011 at 7:41am

That makes sense.  In that case they would definitely be cycling the fluid back into the tankers though, right, because they have to store it somewhere?

 

I guess my question overall is what is the protocol for spills, and the preventative measures taken to mitigate damage caused by a spill.  I can see how the compartmentalizing of the fluid across 30 trucks has the effect of controlling any spills, because they probably have it set up so that at the most only one tanker full of fluid could escape before they shut down the system.

Permalink Reply by Dan on February 5, 2011 at 7:35am

Thanks FXEF,

I'm mildly worried about the handling of frac fluid (as opposed to it's actual use, which I have no problem with), and I know that the handling of it is becoming a topic of great concern with ODNR and with environmentally-minded folks.  It just strikes me that there is a BIG difference in terms of monitoring, protection, exposure, and potential liability between having the fracing operation self-contained within the well-pad site versus having to lay a pipe a half a mile through a wooded valley to reach the well site.  If it was only raw water it would only be a liability of washout/erosion/flooding if the pipe bursts open and a couple million gallons of water goes rushing away.   If however, they are going to be pushing the water with those frac additives in it back through that line, then it seems to be a liability on a whole higher level, and I would think that the ODNR should be very restrictive about allowing it.  I assume they got some kind of approval for this alternate kind of setup, and maybe it will only be the raw water passing one way through the pipes, but it just gives me pause when I consider it.  Does anyone have more insight into this?

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