"The Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration (FMCSA) recently impeded the ability of truckers to deliver water and sand to drilling [fracking] sites by reinterpreting a 50-year-old rule to limit the amount of time that truck drivers can work in a day. 'This is clearly an indication that somewhere up in the top echelons of this administration, there is a constant battle ? a war going on ? to try to artificially level the playing field between the oil and gas industry and the renewable [energy] industry...' "
Long been a term used in the oil patch long before the current dust up. Derivative word is fracturing. In fact it was used in the Plow Share projects of the AEC with underground testing in the 50/60s.
I also recall statements to the effect the process is perfectly safe and won't harm underground aquifers/water sources.
I'm getting a headache listening to comments by drillers, property owners, etc. Besides danger of contamination, there are byproducts the have to be disposed. I hear it from clean water action group, politicians, companies, and property owners. Hot topic around here. Now they want to " send water runoff from sewage systems to underground storage somewhere ?
I worked in the oil patch when I was in engineering school and off/on in the years following. I didn't trust industry statements back then and I've seen nothing in the between times to change that position. This goes double for pipelines and refineries.
Underground storage will work if the storage is in a salt dome. Been used for decades without problem if done right.
One problem salt domes don't often occur where they are needed most.
Only mine that doesn't require two entrances, because there's never been a cave-in in a salt mine.
Salt mines have 0% humidity, constant temperature, and are vermin free.
The average salt dome contains six cubic miles of salt. All of the people on earth, if stacked up like cordwood, would fit in ONE cubic mile. There are over 2,000 mapped salt domes in the Gulf of Mexico area.
In 1980, a Texaco oil drilling rig commenced operation on 10-foot deep Lake Peigneur, Louisiana. At about the 500-foot level, something went terribly wrong. The drilling barge began to vibrate. Presently a whirlpool formed beneath the rig. The workers immediately jumped into their boats and headed for shore. They all didn't make it.
The reason they didn't make it was that the lake disappeared, grounding the boats in the mud of the (former) lake bottom; the workers had to mud-walk the rest of the way. The malestrom sucked up the drilling barge and eleven other supply barges, caused a 164' waterfall (the highest waterfall in Louisiana), and did whopping damage to the land around the lake.
What caused all this was the drilling bit puncturing the ceiling of a salt mine!
No injuries or fatalities were reported, although three dogs were apparently lost. Luckily, there were no cats in the area.
Agreed, but several salt domes contain salt mines.
There are three kinds of salt mines:
Bedded salt where the salt is mined much like an old-fashioned coal mine. There are several of these in the northeast, principally Pennsylvania.
Room-and-Pillar mines. A shaft is sunk vertically into a salt dome and rooms hollowed out in a checkerboard pattern. These rooms are typicall
100x100 feet and 60 feet tall. I've been in one and they are truly weird what with salt-encrusted trucks and front-end loaders driving around helter-skelter.
Brine mines. A pipe is drilled into the dome and (usually hot) water is injected and the brine taken out. The brine is then pumped to an evaporating area of several acres. After the water evaporates, front-end loaders scoop up the dried salt.
Less than 1% of mined salt is used for human consumption. Some is used for livestock, but the vast majority is used in manufacturing. Sodium chloride (salt), yields two important chemicals: Chlorine, used for just about everything, and Sodium used as Sodium hydroxide in metal fabrication.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.