Kentucky Waterways Alliance
Protecting and Restoring Kentucky's Waterways
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Fracking
Education is the most powerful weapon for
changing the world.
Please take the time to learn the facts about this
looming threat to our water resources.
We have been getting lots of questions about fracking in Kentucky. We created this page as
an informative resource to educate the public on this important issue. Please feel free to
contact us if you have additional questions, concerns, or insights.
What is fracking?
What is hydraulic fracturing?
What is nitrogen fracking?
Why is there fracturing in some areas but not others?
Is there fracking in Kentucky?
Why now?
Concerns with fracking?
What can you do?
Resources
What is fracking?
Fracking is the process of extracting natural
gas from shale rock layers deep within
the earth. Shales are fine-grained sedimentary
rocks formed by the accumulation of sediment
and organic matter into a sea. That sea bed
was eventually buried over many thousands of
years and compressed to produce an organic
rich black shale. Shale gas is natural gas
trapped within tiny pore spaces in shale
formations.
In most cases, the gas trapped within the shale
Visual example of horizontal versus vertical
had been unreachable with conventional
drilling.
technologies. However, advancements in
three dimensional imaging and drilling
technology (such as horizontal drilling) have
allowed scientists to access this previously untapped natural resource.
The process begins by drilling deep into the Earth’s surface, often more than a mile
underground, to reach the productive shale layer. The well is then lined with cement to ensure
protection for surrounding groundwater, then horizontal drilling into the shale layer begins.
Often times a company will have a single pad with multiple well heads. This allows for the
company to drill out horizontally (2000-3000 feet) in a wagon wheel pattern to mine the gas
from a large underground area with minimal surface disturbance.
Shale is a very solid dense rock and for it to produce gas out of that rock, you have to fracture
stimulate, which means pumping high pressure into the shale layer. This produces cracks in
the rock that are then filled with “propping agents,” (often sand) from the fracking fluid. The
proppants fill the small fissures, holding them open to allow the hydrocarbons to flow through
the cracks in the rocks and back up the well head to the surface.
This brief video from National Geographic will provide a general understanding of the fracking
process.
Fracking has been accomplished using a variety of different compounds. Two of the most
effective substances used in the process have been water and nitrogen.
Back to the top.
What is hydraulic fracturing?
Hydraulic fracturing has been getting a lot of media attention lately. So what exactly is it and
why are people so interested?
In short, it is fracking the underground shale layers by using water delivered at high pressure.
For more detail on the hydraulic fracturing process watch this animation created by Marathon
Oil. This video does a fantastic job of explaining the well development and gas extraction
process.
What is nitrogen fracking?
Stimulating underground shale rock to fracture by using nitrogen as a replacement to water.
Typically, nitrogen is delivered to the well site as a refrigerated liquid that is gasified prior to
injection. Benefits of nitrogen in the fracking process include being inert, environmentally
friendly, non-flammable, and when gasified, exhibiting very low densities with large expansion
factors.
Nitrogen can provide fracking benefits by reducing the volume of liquids that are used and the
volume requiring disposal.
Carbon dioxide can also be used in this same process. The general name for using nitrogen
or carbon dioxide is known as “foam fracs.” They often consist of 70-95% condensed
atmospheric nitrogen or carbon dioxide, 5-30% water, and the addition of gellant, surfactant or
a breaker added to the concoction.
Back to the top.
Why is there fracking in some areas but not others?
Fracking is dependent upon the existence of shale. This is a map of the geologic shale
formations in the United States, and more specifically the Appalachian region.
As seen in the above map, two predominant American shale plays are in the Appalachian Basin
and are called the Devonian and Marcellus formations (because that time period in
which they originated).
Back to the top.
Is there fracking in Kentucky?
The Devonian shale strata stretches into Eastern Kentucky. The map below shows that the
thickness of this shale layer decreases as it moves west into Kentucky.
But the shale layers in Kentucky are still capable of producing high amounts of natural gas, as
indicated below.
The Devonian strata is further divided into sublayers. The predominant focus area of the
Devonian shale layer within Kentucky is the Big Sandy assessment unit.
Located in the Appalachian Basin, the Devonian Big Sandy shale gas play extends through
Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia. Big Sandy ranges from 1,600 to 6,000 feet deep and has
a thickness of 50 to 300 feet.
Shale gas production was first discovered in Kentucky in 1892 with the drilling of wells along
Beaver Creek in Floyd county. When hydraulic fracturing was introduced in Kentucky in the
1960s, it was used to complete Devonian Ohio shale wells in eastern Kentucky as an
alternative to explosive fracturing which had been used since the 1880s. The Devonian Big
Sandy shale rock exhibited the following characteristics: sequence of black and gray shales,
low permeability, low porosity, high water sensitivity, sufficiently brittle, and high proportion of
natural fractures. The clays in the shale absorbed water and swelled, however, making
hydraulic fracturing not a particularly successful technique. Due to these characteristics,
nitrogen fracturing became the most commonly used well stimulation method since 1978, and
it was being used pretty much exclusively in the shales of eastern Kentucky with the core area
being the Big Sandy gas field in Floyd, Knott, Letcher, Martin, and Pike Counties.
A few hydraulic fracture stimulations were still used in the Big Lime reservoirs above the shale.
In 2007, when a fracking company began drilling horizontal wells in the Ohio shale in eastern
Kentucky, they experimented with foam nitrogen fracs because that type of treatment could
transport the sand proppant much better than the straight nitrogen. Small (roughly 120,000
gallons or so) amounts of water with a few hundred gallons of HCl (muriatic acid) are mixed
with nitrogen to create a foam.
Though the hydraulic fracturing was deemed difficult in the ’60s, industry recently gave it a
second chance. A few dozen (or less) small volume (up to 250,000 gallons of water) hydraulic
fracture stimulations (not foam fracs) are being conducted in horizontal wells in the Berea
formation in Lawrence and Greenup Counties. These Berea wells are shallower than the typical
Devonian shale well and it’s likely difficult to develop enough pressure downhole with nitrogen
to induce fracturing. And in western Kentucky (Breckinridge and Hancock Counties) smaller
volume (up to 20,000 gallons of water) are being used in hydraulic fracs in the New Albany
Shale.
Here are where known and/or active gas fields exist throughout state (courtesy of KY
Geological Survey Mapper).
Terry Engelder, a geoscientist at Penn State, notes the following:
“Kentucky poses challenges that don’t exist for drilling natural gas from the deep
underground Marcellus shale rock in West Virginia or the Utica shale in Ohio…The
high pressure of the Marcellus and Utica shales helps in drilling for natural gas
because it drives the gas into the wells….Only the shallowest of the gas shale layers
are found under the surface in Kentucky. These layers don’t have the pressure found
in either the Marcellus or Utica.”
The commonwealth saw an enormous increase in natural gas production in 2009, rising in a
single year from 114 billion cubic feet to more than 300 billion cubic feet, according to
numbers from the Kentucky Geological Survey. But such growth didn’t continue, and
production stood at 298.9 billion cubic feet last year.
Today, there are an estimated 6,000 shale gas wells producing between 50 and 70 billion
cubic feet of gas annually in Kentucky. Many of those wells are located in the Big Sandy
gas field.
Terminated (blue) and active (orange) wells, from KGS mapper:
Additionally, KGS has an Permitted Oil and Gas Wells Timeline Query Tool that allows citizens
to search for information on recently permitted wells (since 2010).
The price of natural gas has a huge influence on how many wells are drilled and what kinds of
shales the oil and gas companies target. Kentucky is likely to see more interest if those prices
rise further. The Kentucky Geological Survey is testing whether the New Albany shale in
Western Kentucky might yield the profitable liquids that drillers are pursuing in nearby
states. (exerpt from kentucky.com article).
KWA also recently became aware through our friends at Kentucky Heartwood that KGS
and industry have been testing a deep formation not previously accessed. It’s in
Cambrian-age rock and is called the Rogersville Shale, and it’s beneath much of the
known Devonian formation in Eastern Kentucky.
KGS gave a presentation last fall at a conference and this is a slide on the presentation. We
blogged about this possible emerging threat when we found out, and a number of news stories
came out as well (here and here and here). The recap: a deep shale formation (>8,000-10,000
feet) is currently being test drilled to assess the viability, and residents are already being
hounded by land man for easements. As a result, a citizen group, Frack Free Foothills, has
been formed to help raise awareness and educate friends and neighbors about the very real
dangers associated with fracking operations.
KWA has inquired with the Kentucky Division of Oil and Gas about specifically where nitrogen
and hydraulic fracturing occur across the state. KWA has been told told that the information
could be found on the well log and completion report for each well. However, the KY Division
of Oil and Gas does not record the difference between fracking processes when permitting.
And neither they nor the Kentucky Geological Survey have the staff or funding to capture that
information into an electronic database.
FracTracker is an organization attempting to fill the void of knowledge on fracking executed by
oil and gas companies. They have proven to be a phenomenal resource, providing a map of
horizontal fracking in Kentucky.
Why now?
Although throughout the geological world, Marcellus, Utica, and Devonian Shale plays have
been identified as potentially rich in fossil fuels, it was not until recently that the industry has
invested into exploration. Two factors are clearly present in the ramp up in exploration and
production (E&P) activities related to these plays. First, the success of the Barnett Shale play in
North Central Texas has allowed companies to transfer the hydrofracturing technology to other
areas, such as the Fayetteville Shale play (Arkansas), Haynesville Shale play (Louisiana and
Eastern Texas), and the Marcellus, Utica, and Devonian Shale plays. Second, the population
centers of Northeastern U.S. are very close in proximity to those three shale plays, which
results in lowering the cost of bringing natural gas to the Northeast market. source
As America demands more and more energy, the Devonian shale layer will likely be a key
supplier for domestic natural gas.
Natural gas, they note, contains more energy per pound than coal, and when burned it
produces almost no mercury, sulfur dioxide and particulates. A horizontal well has a much
smaller footprint on the surface of the Earth than multiple vertical wells would, and doesn’t
require mountain-top removal or other destructive mining methods. Nor does it require disposal
of coal ash residue, an emerging environmental concern. source
Concerns with fracking
KWA has a number of concerns with fracking that relate to water. EPA has developed a
graphic that initiates this discussion
One of the big concerns with fracking is the chemical mixture used. Many companies claim
industry secret and won’t reveal all the chemicals used in their wells. Chemicals used in
fracking?
Hydraulic fracturing uses millions of gallons of water. While chemicals make up a small
percentage of the fracking fluid, the immense volume of liquid used leads to concerns
about groundwater migration and wastewater disposal.
Industry studies show that new fracking wells leak at a rate of 5-7%. That rate increases
dramatically over time, up to 50% over the life of a well, and the wells most prone to leaking
are fracking wells.
Methane can find its way into groundwater due to bad well casings, spills on the surface, or
from vibration from the fracking process.
Technology (and industry) is moving quicker than the regulators.
The oil and gas industry enjoys numerous exemptions from provisions of federal laws
intended to protect human health and the environment, including the Safe Drinking Water
Act, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA, also known as the Superfund law), waste
management laws (RCRA), and public right-to-know provisions of the Emergency Planning
and Community Right-to-Know Act.
Image courtesy of Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council.
To that end, KWA has major concerns about the well pad, and aquifer/groundwater
contamination and surface water runoff from the site. There are many potential
transport avenues for the fracking process to result in contamination of aquifers, as the first
image conveys. The second shows a typical well pad site that includes open wastewater
storage ponds and very little effort to contain stormwater runoff (since they are exempt from
a Stormwater Permit under the Clean Water Act).
Image courtesy of Thomas Darrah, Ohio State University
Lack of studies on the long-term environmental or adverse human effects from fracking.
There are some studies (one; two; three; four) and doctors with concerns, but information
is limited due to gag orders widely used by industry.
Small earthquakes, so-called induced seismicity, result from lubricating fault joints. This is
particularly true of wastewater injection, as the USGS has found, but has also occurred with
the fracking process.
The hydraulic fracking process, in particular, produces enormous quantities of wastewater.
This wastewater is typically disposed of in “deep underground wells” that are permitted
through EPA or specific states. Kentucky has some of these wells, called “Class II BrineDisposal Wells” on this map (below–click to larger version).
The industry has been selling fracking to government and business as a ‘green’ alternative
to renewables. But fracking is not a renewable source of energy and there are many
questions about its impact on property and the environment.
France and Bulgaria, countries with the largest shale-gas reserves in Europe, have already
banned fracking, as has the state of New York.
Methane leaks out of gas wells because casings are not structurally sound. The leaking
methane rates have been measured anywhere from 3-10 percent (study 1; article), with
even larger numbers found by NASA.
Budget cuts have reduced the number of Division of Oil and Gas inspectors to 14 from 20.
Over 1,100 wells were permitted in Kentucky in 2011.
Greenhunter, one of the largest companies offering water management solutions to oil and
gas shale operators, has acquired a well head in Kentucky (source). It is feared that, if
granted permission by the Coast Guard to ship fracking wastewater, this well head will be a
new disposal site of fracking waste from other states. The Coast Guard is currently
investigating but unsure when they will make a decision.
What can you do?
Educate yourself on fracking issues near you!
Let your representatives in state and federal government know that you have concerns about
the process, and that you want to see fracking companies held to a higher standard that
protects human health and our environment.
Most importantly, be an advocate and talk to your friends and neighbors. Build awareness!
As action items come to the forefront, we’ll bring them to you so that you are able to make your
voice heard!