Fracking Legislation in Springfield – Where We Stand

Sierra Club is opposed to fracking.  Fracking is devastating to communities and families all over the country — polluting our air and water, and contributing to the destabilization of our climate.

That’s why the Sierra Club supports a moratorium on fracking in Illinois: we want to stop destructive drilling before it can start. Our responsibility is to ensure our representatives take the strongest possible actions to protect our families and the environment.  We stand with Representative Mell, Senator Hunter, Speaker Madigan, and other legislators who have expressed their support for a two-year timeout while we analyze the tremendous risks fracking poses for Illinois.

While we stand with all of those calling for a moratorium, we also acknowledge that, until we pass a moratorium, fracking is legal in Illinois, and may indeed already may be occurring.  HB2615 does not allow or open the door to fracking in Illinois — unfortunately that door is wide open today, and our health and environment are at great risk.  Our pre-World War II Oil and Gas Act is entirely inadequate to protect us from fracking’s many threats, and our Department of Natural Resources has none of the resources needed to oversee this controversial industry.  For these reasons we support The Hydraulic Fracturing Regulatory Act, HB 2615, which will provide at least some solid measures to protect ourselves from the dangers of fracking.   However, our support for these protections does not mean they give us any confidence that fracking in Illinois can be done safely, or that any regulatory regime could adequately address all of the risks posed by fracking.  On the contrary, we oppose fracking coming to Illinois and continue to build support for a moratorium.

A far safer and better path to job creation and economic development in Illinois is to continue to build our clean energy economy.   We have created over 20,000 jobs in wind and solar energy since Illinois set clean energy targets in 2007, and that is only the beginning of the economic and environmental benefits if we prioritize clean energy.   Conservation efforts can also create jobs and business opportunities while reducing the demand for natural gas, and lower our utility bills.   We urge the General Assembly to approve pending renewable energy and energy efficiency measures to help Illinois take advantage of these opportunities and all the benefits they offer our state.

Don’t Frack With Illinois!

That’s the message a growing coalition of organizations and concerned citizens is sending to industry and decision-makers regarding the proposal to open Illinois to high-volume hydraulic fracturing–or fracking.

Gas leasing speculation has been quite a spectacle in Illinois, especially in the southeastern counties where shale gas development is thought to be the most promising. We learned early on that the state has virtually no regulations in place to protect the public and the environment from the hazards of fracking. Seeing all to0 clearly the myriad of damages to people, communities and the environment that shale gas development has caused in other states a coalition of environmental organizations came together to address the issue head on.

For nearly a year, Sierra Club and other organizations have established a list of measures that are necessary for the protection of people and places in Illinois. They include:

• Chemical disclosure–before fracking–of exactly what chemicals are being used in the frack.
• Baseline groundwater testing before the frack and following monitoring afterwards.
• Water withdrawal plans.
• An adequate public notice and appeal process for frack well permits.
• Adequate setbacks from water supplies, including water wells, streams, ponds and lakes.
• Prohibition on the use of toxic chemicals such as BTEX chemicals (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene).
• Prohibition of storing wastewater in open pits.
• Treating  fracking waste as hazardous waste.
• Ending clean air act exemptions for fracking sites.

Until industry is willing to accept reasonable regulations that protect the environment and the people who depend upon it for their lives and livelihoods, no permits should be issued for high-volume hydraulic fracturing. Therefore, we continue to support a moratorium on fracking until Illinois has developed robust and comprehensive regulations that protect people and places from an activity that has been so harmful in other parts of the country.

Please ask your state legislators for his or her support by co-sponsoring Senate Bill 3280 with a moratorium on fracking until robust regulations have been developed.

And, please support this important campaign by taking part in the Don’t Frack With Illinois event—a virtual fundraising event sponsored by the Shawnee Group Sierra Club. Win a handcrafted acoustic guitar generously donated by Whipple Creek Guitars in Pomona, Illinois. Visit the event website to buy tickets and your chance to WIN!!

High-volume Hydraulic Fracturing Background Information

Industry is proposing to use high-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing to reach oil and/or natural gas in the New Albany Shale. After drilling into the shale, which is located between 4,000 to 5,000 feet down, the well bore is then drilled horizontally for one to two miles. Following the drilling the well is then “completed” or “fracked.” Fracking is process in which water, sand and toxic chemicals (fracking fluid) are injected into the well at high pressure to create small cracks in the rock that allow natural gas to freely flow to the surface.

Each well uses between 2 to 8 million gallons of fresh water taken from our lakes and aquifers. Since one well is often fracked up to 18 times and there could be one well for every forty acres of land within the New Albany Shale, this amounts to an enormous quantity of fresh water permanently taken out of the system.

Additionally, an estimated 30% to 70% of the fracking fluid will resurface, bringing back with it toxic substances that are naturally present in underground oil and gas deposits, as well as the chemicals used in the fracking fluid. Industry is proposing to store this toxic brew in open evaporation pits until it can be hauled away in tanker trucks to deep injection wells. Spills and leaks throughout this process are inevitable, putting wells, farm ponds, streams, lakes, and aquifers and the people, pets, livestock and wildlife that use them at great risk.

In many areas, after a well has been fracked, people’s well water has become contaminated by chemicals (some even radioactive) that migrate into aquifers through natural fissures and/or possibly through abandoned wells.

Air pollution is also a big problem. Volatile organic compounds from wastewater flowback pits and airborne chemical releases from the equipment involved in the fracking process all add up to a high level of air pollution in many areas.

Water Issues Targeted at this Year’s Illinois Hunting and Fishing Day Celebrations

This year’s National Hunting and Fishing Day Celebrations in northern and southern Illinois were a great opportunity for Illinois Chapter Sierra Club staff and volunteers to engage the public on many water-centric issues in Illinois. Armed with buttons, stickers, flyers, and fact sheets our volunteers and staff cast their lines and reeled in a sizable audience to discuss the difficulties of keeping our Illinois waters happy and healthy.

At the Northern Illinois show, Sierra Club staff largely focused on the increasingly pressing issue of the Asian carp, which are slowly-yet-surely advancing up the Illinois River towards Lake Michigan. We were particularly delighted to meet so many young fisherwomen and men who were very knowledgeable about the problem. Attendees were interested to hear about the Sierra Club’s support of permanent separation between the Mississippi River and Great Lakes basins via our Healthy Water Solutions (HWS) coalition, and were very concerned about the inevitable consequences if the Asian carp successfully enter the Lakes.  We were excited to garner additional support for our coalition, and to raise public awareness of aquatic invasive species problematic throughout the state (visit the coalition website for more information).

High-volume hydraulic fracturing (fracking) for oil and gas was the focus of the Club’s booth at the Southern Illinois event. Fracking, which is poised to take place across much of downstate Illinois, poses threats to fresh water at every stage of operation. Over 150 people showed their support for the Club’s position on fracking by signing a postcard to their legislator asking him/her to support a moratorium on fracking to allow the Department of Natural Resources time to review the environmental impacts of fracking and the state time to review, develop and establish potential regulations that will adequately safeguard our water and environment.

Many thanks to all the people who stopped by our booths in northern and southern Illinois and showed support for clean water and a healthy environment for our families, our wildlife and our future.

Hydraulic Fracturing Background Information

Industry is proposing to use high-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing to reach oil and/or natural gas in the New Albany Shale. After drilling into the shale, which is located between 4,000 to 5,000 feet down, the well bore is then drilled horizontally for up to a mile. Following the drilling the well is then “completed” or “fracked.” Fracking is process in which water, sand and toxic chemicals (fracking fluid) are injected into the well at high pressure to create small cracks in the rock that allow natural gas to freely flow to the surface.

Each well uses between 2 to 8 million gallons of fresh water taken from our lakes and aquifers. Since one well is often fracked up to 18 times and there could be one well for every forty acres of land within the New Albany Shale, this amounts to an enormous quantity of fresh water taken out of the system.

Additionally, an estimated 30% to 70% of the fracking fluid will resurface, bringing back with it toxic substances that are naturally present in underground oil and gas deposits, as well as the chemicals used in the fracking fluid. Industry is proposing to store this toxic brew in open evaporation pits until it can be hauled away in tanker trucks to deep injection wells. Spills and leaks throughout this process are inevitable, putting wells, farm ponds, streams, lakes, and aquifers and the people, pets, livestock and wildlife that use them at great risk.

In some areas, after a well has been fracked, people’s well water has become contaminated by chemicals (some radioactive) that migrate into aquifers through natural fissures and/or possibly through abandoned wells.

Southern Illinois Judge Grants Natural Gas Rights From More Than 1000 People Without Their Permission

Just two weeks ago the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a draft report linking hydraulic fracturing to groundwater contamination. Yet, despite this report, yesterday a Saline County, Illinois judge granted Colorado-based Next Energy, LLC the right to lease mineral rights from more than a thousand people without their permission!

Dimock, PA drilling site of Cabot Oil and Gas. State officials ordered the Houston-based energy company to permanently shut down some of its wells, pay nearly a quarter million dollars in fines, and permanently provide drinking water to affected families for contaminating local drinking water.

Deep beneath the coal seams of Saline County lay the New Albany and Maquoketa shale deposits at 4,200 to 6,100 feet deep respectively. Next Energy, LLC plans to extract natural gas from the deep shale beds with a process called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. Fracking is process in which water, sand and chemicals are injected into the well at high pressure to create small cracks in the rock that allow natural gas to freely flow to the surface.

Toxic chemicals are used at every stage of the fracking process.  Drilling muds, a combination of toxic and non-toxic substances, are used to drill the well. To facilitate the release of natural gas after drilling, approximately a million or more gallons of fluids, loaded with toxic chemicals, are injected underground under high pressure using diesel-powered heavy equipment that runs continuously during the operation.

One well can be fracked 10 or more times and there can be up to 28 wells on one well pad.  An estimated 30% to 70% of the fracking fluid will resurface, bringing back with it toxic substances that are naturally present in underground oil and gas deposits, as well as the chemicals used in the fracking fluid.

Fracking pad with waste water impoundment in Pennsylvania. Photo courtesy of http://www.marcellus-shale.us

Most well pads contain pits that hold used drilling muds, fracking fluids and the contaminated water (produced water) which surfaces with the gas.  Produced water often continues to surface for the life of the well (20 to 30 years) and is often hauled in “water trucks” to large, central evaporation pits.  Many of the chemicals found in drilling and evaporation pits are considered hazardous wastes and upon closure, every pit has the potential to become a superfund site.

In addition to the land and water contamination issues, at each stage of production and delivery, tons of toxic volatile compounds, including benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, etc., and fugitive natural gas (methane), escape and mix with nitrogen oxides from the exhaust of diesel-driven equipment to produce ground-level air pollution-causing ozone, which can spread up to 200 miles beyond the immediate region where gas is being produced. Ozone not only causes irreversible damage to the lungs, it is equally damaging to many plants and crops.

Well water contaminated with methane catches fire at the tap. Photo from the film, Gasland.

Hydraulic fracturing is one of only two underground injection processes exempted from the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. States where hydraulic fracturing occurs have varying regulatory requirements, some of which are weak. For example, in Illinois oil and gas companies are not required to publicly disclose the types and amounts of chemicals that are injected underground in the fracturing process. In other words, nearby residents or landowners have no way of knowing what kinds of chemicals are being injected underground that may have contaminated their drinking water.

Between the county judge’s overeager bow to industry and Illinois’ oil and gas industry exemptions from the safe drinking water act, the citizens of Saline County are being fracked in more ways than one!

Sources:
The Endocrine Disruption Exchange, Inc.
Sierra Club