Energy Companies Seek To Demolish GNC

The Department has determined, based on industry projections, that it may receive applications to drill approximately 1,700 – 2,500 horizontal and vertical wells for development of the Marcellus Shale by HVHF during a “peak development” year.  An average year may see 1,600 or more applications.

Hydraulic fracturing requires chemical additives, some of which may pose hazards when highly concentrated.  The extra water associated with such drilling may also result in significant adverse impacts relating to water supplies, wastewater treatment and disposal and truck traffic.  Horizontal wells also generate greater volumes of drilling waste (cuttings).


A spacing of 40 acres per well for vertical shale gas wells would result in, on average, 70 – 80 acres of disturbance for the well pads, access roads and utility corridors (4.8  acres per well) to develop an area of 640 acres. A single well pad with 6 to 8 horizontal shale gas wells could access all 640 acres with only 7 to 8 acres of  total land disturbance.

It is estimated that 2.4 million to 7.8 million gallons of water may be used for a multi-stage hydraulic fracturing procedure in a typical 4,000-foot lateral wellbore.  Water may be delivered by truck or pipeline directly from the source to the well pad, or may be delivered by trucks or pipeline from centralized water storage or staging facilities consisting of tanks or engineered impoundments.

Potential significant adverse impacts on water resources exist with regard to water withdrawals for hydraulic fracturing; stormwater runoff; surface spills, leaks and pit or surface impoundment failures; groundwater impacts associated with well drilling and construction; waste disposal and New York City’s subsurface water supply infrastructure.  During the public scoping process, additional concerns were raised relating to the potential degradation of New York City’s surface drinking water supply and potential groundwater contamination from the hydraulic fracturing procedure itself.


Using an industry estimate of a yearly peak activity in New York of 2,462 wells, the dSGEIS  estimates that HVHF would result in a calculated peak annual fresh water usage of 9 billion gallons.  Total daily fresh water withdrawal in New York has been estimated at about 10.3 billion gallons.  This equates to an annual total of about 3.8 trillion gallons.


The dSGEIS concludes that spills or releases in connection with HVHF could have significant adverse impacts on water resources.  The dSGEIS identifies a significant number of contaminants contained in fracturing additives, or otherwise associated with HVHF operations.  Spills or releases can occur as a result of tank ruptures, equipment or surface impoundment failures, overfills, vandalism, accidents (including vehicle collisions), ground fires, or improper operations.  Spilled, leaked or released fluids could flow to a surface water body or infiltrate the ground, reaching subsurface soils and aquifers.

...shall I go on?


Why are you just sitting there?  If you love the GNC, shouldn't you be doing something? Much more on this topic very soon.

All excerpts UNEDITED from revised draft SGEIS 2011, Executive Summary
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