The Barnett Shale Energy Education Council (BSEEC) is a community resource that provides information to the public about gas drilling and production in the Barnett Shale region in North Texas.
Fact Sheets & Presentations | About Ed Ireland, Ph.D. | Newsletter Archive
MYTH vs TRUTH
MYTH: Fracking pollutes water.
TRUTH: Tim Kustic, California Div. of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources, said in 2012: “There is no evidence of harm from fracking in groundwater in California at this point in time. And it has been going on for many years.”
California Div. of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources
MYTH: Fracking is dangerous.
TRUTH: Mark Nechodom, Director of California Department of Conservation, said in 2013: “In California it [fracking] has been used for 60 years, and actively used for 40 years, and in California there has been not one record of reported damage directly to the use of hydraulic fracturing.”
EPA
MYTH: Texas Commission on Environmental Air Quality has stated there is more air pollution coming from the energy industry in Dallas-Fort Worth than all the cars and trucks in the area.
TRUTH: This claim relies on a study conducted in 2009 by then SMU Professor Al Armendariz that has been thoroughly debunked by the Barnett Shale Energy Education Council.
Barnett Shale Energy Education Council
MYTH: The Colorado study that suggested methane leakage rates from oil and gas systems were twice as high as previously thought.
TRUTH: Methane leakage claims have become anti-drilling activists’ answer to the impressive and undeniable reductions in American greenhouse gas emissions that have resulted from an increased use in natural gas.
energyindepth.org
MYTH: Earthquakes and sinkholes in the area are due to hydraulic fracturing.
TRUTH: The National Research Council put it best: “hydraulic fracturing a well as presently implemented for shale gas recovery does not pose a high risk for inducing felt seismic events.”
energyindepth.org
MYTH: Natural gas developed from shale increases net greenhouse gas emissions.
TRUTH: From 1990 through 2010 the natural gas industry reduced methane emissions by about 20 percent, while natural gas production has grown by nearly 40 percent.
Source: U.S. EPA, Associated Press, EPA Methane Report Further Divides Fracking Camps
MYTH: A 2012 University of Colorado Denver School of Public Health study that allegedly demonstrated an increase in cancer among people living within 1/2 mile from a site.
TRUTH: The cancer risks identified in the study (which EID debunked here) are actually in line with or well below the risk for the entire U.S. population, regardless of where they live.
energyindepth.org
@BSEECThe Office of Fossil Energy in the U.S. Department of Energy recently published a classroom poster, Common Products Made from Oil and Natural Gas, that asks the question, “Did you know most of this stuff comes from oil and natural gas?”
The poster is produced as an educational item for children, but it is beneficial for...
Natural gas vehicles are cost efficient and boast low emissions, and it seems that Texas has caught on. Sales of natural gas as a motor fuel are surging in Texas. In October 2013, Texas Railroad Commissioner David Porter launched a natural gas initiative to promote natural gas as a transportation fuel...
On Nov. 4, 2014, residents of Denton, Texas, will vote on a referendum to ban hydraulic fracturing within the city limits; however, make no mistake about it – a ban on hydraulic fracturing is a ban on all drilling. This is borne out by the numbers: Approximately 20,000 natural gas wells have been drilled in the Barnett Shale and every one has been hydraulically fractured.
When oil and...
A new economic impact study of the fiscal contributions of the Barnett Shale was released today. The study, commissioned by the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce and conducted by The Perryman Group (TPG) of Waco, reports that despite reduced drilling and fluctuating natural gas prices, Bartnett Shale production...
Some residents in Denton, Texas – located in North Texas atop the Barnett Shale – have proposed a ban on hydraulic fracturing within the Denton city limits. Such a ban goes further than just hydraulic fracturing, it is actually a ban on drilling altogether. This is because Barnett Shale natural gas wells do not produce natural gas until they are hydraulically fractured (a well completion...
A new economic impact study titled: “The Adverse Impact of Banning Hydraulic Fracturing In The City of Denton on Business Activity and Tax Receipts in the City and State” will be presented to Denton City Council on Tuesday.
Fort Worth, Texas, Monday, July 14, 2014 – A hydraulic fracturing ban in Denton would cost the city and...
The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) latest Annual Energy Outlook has U.S. total natural gas consumption growing from the current 25.6 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) to 31.6 Tcf in 2040. According to the EIA graph, while all sectors show increases in consumption, except residential, the growth is driven primarily by...
It may not be widely known, but the air in the Barnett Shale area of North Texas is the most monitored air in the U.S. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has installed a system of 15 permanent automated gas chromatograph (AutoGC) stations in the Barnett Shale area that take air samples every hour, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The data is available to the public...
In early May 2014, in conjunction with the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), the Obama administration released its 2014 National Climate Assessment. According to USGCRP, the purpose of the National Climate Assessment, which is conducted every four years, is to summarize the current and future impacts of climate change on the U...
The United States is experiencing a boom in energy production, thanks to hydraulic fracturing. Practically every natural gas and oil well drilled in America is hydraulically fractured using a mixture that is 99.5 percent water and sand and .5 percent chemical additives. As hydraulic fracturing has...
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released their latest Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) data report, updated to Sept. 1, 2013. The report shows that U.S. greenhouse emissions have continued to decline, in keeping with the trend that began in 2009.
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There are many myths circulating that natural gas wells are not regulated. It is also believed that they have some how been made exempt from various regulations. In actuality, federal and state laws and regulations heavily regulate natural gas drilling and production. This chart shows the federal laws...
Hydraulic fracturing fluid is made up of different components. Two intergovernmental agencies, the Ground Water Protection Council and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, manage the website www.fracfocus.org, which provides information to the public about the fluids...
According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), each year there are millions of earthquakes across the world; however, most are undetected due to being in remote areas or being low on the Richter scale (usually below 2.0).
In the past 20 years, the number of known earthquakes around the world has been on...
North Texans know a lot about tornadoes and golf ball-size hail storms, but when it comes to earthquakes, many Texans are experiencing them for the first time. Our first instinct is to ask what is causing them and what do we need to do to stop them. With oil and gas operations near the areas of the recent earthquakes near Eagle Mountain Lake, some have naturally turned to questioning whether...
