Walden Associates

Technical, Regulatory and Public Policy Issues

Hydrofracking Shale for New Energy

HVHF Technique and Chemicals Used

Walden Associates

• A combination of hydraulic pressure and granular “proppants” are used to open fractures and hold them open with sand grains or synthetic spheres. This is called hydrofracking.

• Producing natural gas from deep and tight formations is made possible or enhanced by increasing the effective porosity along the borehole gas producing zones.

• Fracking has been long used to improve the yield of oil, gas and water wells tapping consolidated (bedrock) formations. Before hydrofracking, explosives were often used to “frack” wells.

Hydrofracking

Walden Associates

• Fracking equipment typically operates up to 15,000 psi at flow rates up to 9.4 ft3/sec to inject a mixture of water, suspended proppant and additives to improve the fracking performance.

• Each drilling operation or “pad” must maintain a supply of water, proppant and additives in addition to the myriad drilling liquid storage and hydrofracking equipment.

Hydrofracking

Walden Associates

Walden Associates

• Drill pad occupies approximately 5-6 acres that must be cleared and graded, access roads must be cut and trees / vegetation removed.

• Supplies of fresh water up to 4-6 mgd are required during drilling.

• Large volumes of process water and waste-water must be stored onsite and protected from spills.

• Fuel (mainly diesel) must be stored onsite to power drilling rigs and other equipment.

Drilling Operations

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• Runoff must be controlled so that precipitation, process water, waste-water and spills of chemicals and/or fuels do not leave the pad.

• Offsite receptors must be protected from air emissions, including odors and noise from drilling and support equipment/vehicles.

• Potential releases of natural gas could present immediate fire or explosion hazards in addition to adding greenhouse gas to the atmosphere.

Drilling Operations

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Aerial View of a Typical Drilling Pad

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Drill Rig Mast with Drill Pipe in Racks

Walden Associates

• Acids – hydrochloric acid (usually 28%-5

• Sodium chloride (salt)

• Polyacrylamide and other friction reducers

• Ethylene glycol

• Borate salts

• Sodium and potassium carbonates

• Glutaraldehyde

• Guar gum and other water-soluble gelling agents

• Citric acid – used in corrosion prevention

• Isopropanol – increases the viscosity of the fracture fluid

Frack Water Chemical Additives

Walden Associates

• Fracking water with chemical additives and proppants must be stored onsite and handled so as to prevent releases.

• The integrity of well casings and seals must be sufficient to prevent release of fracking fluid outside the desired depth.

• The location and depth of other formation penetrations (oil wells, gas wells, abandoned wells and test drilling sites) must be known so that cross-hole fluid leakage can be prevented.

• Flowback water must be controlled to prevent spills and discharges to the environment.

Control of Hydrofracking Fluids

Walden Associates

• Recycling of flowback water should be maximized if feasible to reduce water resource impacts.

• Flowback water onsite storage and treatment must meet applicable spill-prevention and containment BMPs.

Control of Hydrofracking Fluids

Walden Associates

Vertical Well Hydrofracking Schematic

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Horizontal Well Hydrofracking Schematic

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Geologic Cross-Section A Horizontal Well

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Well-head “Christmas Tree” and Piping

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Lined Pond, Frack Tanks, and Flare

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Filling Lined Drilling Pond

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Liner System

Walden Associates

• There is a two-fold demand for natural gas development in New York State: (1) a need for new, economical and clean(er) energy and (2) a desperate need for jobs, especially in economically depressed upstate.

• Much of the opposition is ideological and comes from outside the potential gas fields.

• Environmental disasters cited by opponents are virtually all unrelated to modern drilling and hydrofracking.

• Opponents are often funded by competing energy producers and a fictional motion picture depicting such a disaster was funded by a Canadian petroleum producer

Opposition to Gas Development