Fracking - where is it headed ?

[Lamplighter]

This article may be faux-science ... or it may not !
(Unfortunately there is no author or link back to an original article)

Penn’s fracking sites tied with higher hospitalization rates
Daily Times Gazette - - 7/18/15

Fracking is associated with higher hospitalization rates claims the research done by the Columbia University and University of Pennsylvania.
…
They compared Bradford and Susquehanna where drilling is active to their control group, Wayne County where extraction has been banned.

Researchers connected the dots when they analyzed 198,000 hospitalization records from 2007 to 2011 in Northern Pennsylvania counties. They categorized at least 25 medical scenarios and linked those cases with their proximity within different fracking sites.
…
The results showed that indeed, hospitalization rates are higher in places where fracking is practice than those that do not. Around 18 zip code areas have been identified to have a well density higher than 0.79 wells per square kilometer. Those citizens residing in those zip codes have at least 27% risk higher than those areas situated far from extraction points.

[xoxoxoBruce]

NEWSWEEK

In a study published Wednesday in the journal PLOS ONE, scientists from Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania looked at hospital admittance rates from 2007 to 2011 for 18 ZIP codes in three counties in northeastern Pennsylvania, where the fracking industry has boomed in recent years. Two of the counties, Bradford and Susquehanna, saw a surge in new drilling activity during this period. The third, Wayne County, functioned as a control; it had no producing natural gas wells after a 2010 ban on drilling due to its proximity to the Delaware River watershed.

[glatt]

I didn't know Wayne had a drilling ban. Is that new wells or all well, I wonder?

I had heard rumors that there was drilling going on there, but didn't know for sure. I've got relatives there and hear them talking about so and so who sold out to the frackers.

[Undertoad]

If drilling is beginning in Wayne County, make sure your relatives have selected a good urologist.

[glatt]

So I did a bit of Googling, and apparently there was going to be tons of fracking in Wayne county, but the Delaware River Basin Commission, the agency that oversees the Delaware River watershed, banned it while it studied the impact on the basin. And it doesn't seem to be working very hard at completing that study. So all the oil companies pulled out and broke their leases with 1,300 or so landowners in Wayne.

Sucks for the economy there, but is great news for the environment. I'm happy because to me, this is what makes Wayne county valuable:

[Griff]

http://www.npr.org/2015/10/13/448182...about-fracking

[Lamplighter]

Among the 94 comments (as of today) the comment by ScottCannon is also worth reading.

[xoxoxoBruce]

So if you've got a little piece of ground away from the maddening crowd, spent your life and treasure building a comfortable home, say like Griftopia.
Now your water supply is gone along with your life's work and most of your net worth, because who'd buy it without water?
Well, fuck you, you're going to have to sacrifice for the greater good, we'll just make you into soylent green so you won't be a burden on society.
No wonder they want to take away your guns.

[Griff]

We are zeroing in on which parts of the process are actually dangerous to water supplies. Now we can clearly see where regulation can help.That is good isn't it or is science only for outcomes that fit cherished narratives?

Unfortunately, our representation here isn't exactly pro regulation so nothing will get done at the state level. So far the gas companies appear to have been quick to drill new water wells or pay to put people on water lines and pay compensation. Obviously stopping spills would be preferable.

[xoxoxoBruce]

It was also preferable to BP, to have the lowest bidder install the blowout protector.

Regulations mean more expense for the taxpayer trying to enforce them, and you know there's never enough eyes in those jobs. It also means spills won't be eliminated, just liability for the driller, if you can afford to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt, it was them and not the company drilling a mile from them.

Regulations are way better than none, but they are not the be-all-end-all of the problems.

[Lamplighter]

We are moving into another era of "cheap gas".
Today here in PDX, I paid only $1.99 / gal (regular)
(Oregon does not allow self-service, so other states should be even lower)

Imagine the consequences:
...long-trip vacations
...buy-a-new-car-every-two-years
...buy-a-house-in-the-suburbs
...more new freeways

Will Obama get credit for low gasoline prices
... or blamed the demise of "Drill Baby, Drill"
... or any problem associated with fracking

[Undertoad]

...$20 more in the pocket each month to spend on something else = lots of economic activity = more jobs = security = consumer confidence = more economic activity

inspired me to get the graph of miles traveled - it's on the upswing again

http://cellar.org/showpost.php?p=943990&postcount=1099

[tw]

Originally Posted by Lamplighter

We are moving into another era of "cheap gas".

Gasoline has never been expensive. If it was, then when gas was approaching $4 per gallon, then SUV sales would drop. Instead SUV sales continued to increase.

If gas was expensive, then efforts would have been implemented to increase gasoline mileage. It did not happen because gasoline even at $7 a gallon has been cheap. Not to one who is emotional. But true when that conclusion is based in numbers.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

...$20 more in the pocket each month to spend on something else = lots of economic activity = more jobs = security = consumer confidence = more economic activity

inspired me to get the graph of miles traveled - it's on the upswing again

http://cellar.org/showpost.php?p=943990&postcount=1099

We have these little displays in our elevators at work and they display short snippets. Friday they displayed that consumer spending was down in the last quarter, and they attributed it to cheaper gas.

So maybe people are saving the gas money they aren't spending?

[Undertoad]

Hmmmmaybe