Just passed Laurel Lake Creek at noon and saw the pumping going on again for the escaping pipeline drilling mud entering the creek bed. All the guys and tankers and trucks and pumping station back again with Southeast Directional Drilling working to pump this out and contain it.
I called Tom Karam , the owner of this Laser Pipeline and told him what is happening and he didn't know!I videotaped the latest "blow-out"--they supposedly tried some different tactics and the mud escaped again !! The Creek is not wanting this mud to stay underground and it is barfing it up--
Here are Vera's reports after the other accidents in this creek last month:
http://dearsusquehanna.blogspot.com/2011/08/laurel-creek-mud-spill-susquehanna.html (08/05/11)
http://dearsusquehanna.blogspot.com/2011/08/laurel-lake-creek-update-another.html (08/11/11)
http://dearsusquehanna.blogspot.com/2011/08/laurel-lake-creek-mud-inadvertent.html (08/16/11)
http://dearsusquehanna.blogspot.com/2011/08/laurel-lake-creek-pipeline-drilling.html (08/17/11)
And this from the staff blog of the Natural Resources Defense Council:
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/amall/pennsylvania_citizen_intimidat.html
THANK YOU, VERA!
INDEPENDENT MEDIA REPORTER
EXTRAORDINAIRE!
Remembering a dear friend who fought against unconventional gas drilling in Pennsylvania:
Karen Korell
1944-2010
I just cannot believe that these things do not bring pause to industry leaders. They must be completely blinded by the dollar signs dancing through their heads. What do they tell themselves to make this seem OK? "yes, we're destroying pristine streams, but if it's bringing in the moolah, we can live with it." Well, do the decision-makers live by that stream? No. Until they do, and it STILL doesn't bother them, they are all stinky butts- yes, I thought of saying other words, but I'm going to stick with the fact that they are ignorant stinky butts. I hesitate to say it, for it is not charitable, but I hope they all somehow wind up with environmental hazards in their own backyards.
ReplyDeleteI remember Karen, too. She fought the good fight with all her might.She's probably still helping out from her special place in heaven.
The Big Gas people can afford to keep their distance from the pollution and death they cause. Governmental agencies exist to promote economic growth and as a sideline act as watchdogs. There is not enough money for inspectors. But there is a conflict of interest most of all. It is a tragic situation.
ReplyDeleteHeres for you ignorant uneducated radicals. Do You Know whats in The " Drilling Mud"?? No you dont! Absoluteley nothing but powdered clay that comes in 50lb bags and mixed with fresh water to be used as a lubricant to drill with. 100% enviro friendly. IT is mined in wyoming's clay lands and baked to a powder. BTW its not a " blowout" genius, its a frac out.
ReplyDeleteThe drilling muds are not necessarily "powdered clay".
ReplyDeleteDrilling muds are made up of a base fluid (water, mineral oil, or a synthetic oil-based compound); weighting agents (most frequently barite, which contains barium); a clay; and a stabilizing organic material such as lignosulfonate or lignite. Besides these components, which are present in the mud to begin with, the fluid also picks up other constituents that were originally associated with the geology itself. Since the mud flows through the well and comes into contact with the shale and other geological formations, material can dissolve or adsorb into the mud fluid and get transported to the surface. Marcellus shale naturally contains salts, metals, and the same NORM (radioactivity) present in the cuttings. Marcellus Shale has a lot of radioactivity. The exact nature and concentration of constituents will depend on local geological conditions and the length of the well.
They cannot just dispose the mud into the water - this is prohibited, even in PA.