Infrared Camera Reveals Huge, Wafting Cloud of Methane over California’s Aliso Canyon.

Nothing to see here … out of sight, out of mind. What’s a little spilt toxics, among frenemies ...

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According to data obtained from leading oil- and gas-producing states, "more than 180 million gallons of wastewater spilled from 2009 to 2014 in incidents involving ruptured pipes, overflowing storage tanks and other mishaps or even deliberate dumping," AP reports, tainting agricultural land, poisoning drinking water, and sparking the mass die-off of plant and animal life.

Most of the incidents involved the spill of fracking wastewater, which is a combination of underground brine mixed with a slurry of undisclosed chemicals. As the story notes, "A big reason why there are so many spills is the sheer volume of wastewater" produced, which according an organization of state groundwater agencies, amounts to roughly 10 barrels for every barrel of oil, or more than 840 billion gallons a year.

The report details a sampling of incidents, which help illustrate the scope of the problem. In one instance, a roughly 1 million gallon spill in North Dakota in 2006 caused a "massive die-off of fish, turtles and plants in the Yellowstone River and a tributary." In another case, a decades-long seepage of toxic brine onto Montana's Fort Peck Indian Reservation polluted a river, private wells, and the municipal water system, making the water "undrinkable."

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Fracking Fallout: New Analysis Reveals Over 100 Million Gallons of Toxic Wastewater Spilled Since 2009

Associated Press investigation finds more than 180 million gallons of fracking byproduct spilled from 2009 to 2014, tainting agricultural land, poisoning drinking water, and sparking the mass die-off of plant and animal life.

Chalk it up to the “price of progress” … about 180 times.

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Opposition to the hydraulic fracturing of deep shales to release natural gas rose sharply last year over worries that the large volumes of chemical-laden water used in the operations could contaminate drinking water. Then, in early January, earthquakes in Ohio were blamed on the disposal of that water in deep underground structures. Yesterday, two Cornell University professors said at a press conference that fracking releases large amounts of natural gas, which consists mostly of methane, directly into the atmosphere — much more than previously thought.

Robert Howarth, an ecologist and evolutionary biologist, and Anthony Ingraffea, a civil and environmental engineer, reported that fracked wells leak 40 to 60 percent more methane than conventional natural gas wells. When water with its chemical load is forced down a well to break the shale, it flows back up and is stored in large ponds or tanks. But volumes of methane also flow back up the well at the same time and are released into the atmosphere before they can be captured for use. This giant belch of "fugitive methane" can be seen in infrared videos taken at well sites.

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Currently, pipeline leaks are the main culprit, but fracking is a quickly growing contributor. Ingraffea pointed out that although 25,000 high-volume shale-gas wells are already operating in the U.S., hundreds of thousands are scheduled to go into operation within 20 years, and millions will be operating worldwide, significantly expanding emissions and keeping atmospheric methane levels high despite the 12-year dissipation time.

Howarth said he is particularly concerned about fracking emissions because recent data indicates that the planet is entering a period of rapid climate change. He noted that the average global temperature compared with the early 1900s is now expected to increase by 1.5 degrees Celsius within the next 15 to 35 years, which he called "a tipping point" toward aggressive climate change. More and more fracking would speed the world to that transition or undermine efforts to reduce emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases. The notion, Ingraffea said, that shale gas is a desirable "bridge fuel" from oil to widespread renewable energy supplies several decades from now "makes no sense" in terms of climate change.

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Fracking Would Emit Large Quantities of Greenhouse Gases

"Fugitive methane" released during shale gas drilling could accelerate climate change

by Mark Fischetti , scientificamerican.com — January 20, 2012

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Well “25,000 high-volume shale-gas wells are already operating in the U.S., hundreds of thousands are scheduled to go into operation within 20 years, and millions will be operating worldwide” …

What’s not to like about that $$$ ???

Except in terms of climate change, all that Shale-gas is really a “bridge fuel” to nowhere. Ooops.

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Well, maybe the Exxon CEO, who in the past has hinted that climate change ‘might be real’ — maybe that mover-and-shaker, has some keen insights about the real-world value of Fracking ???

All In with Chris Hayes — MSNBC 2/25/14

The fracking fallout continues

Director and producer of "Gasland" Josh Fox and author Jim Hightower discuss Rex Tillerson's argument against a fracking water tower near his property.

Doncha just love it, when Big Oil CEOs say: “Hell No! Not in my Backyard.”

It proves they’re only human. Somehow I think the irony of it all, is lost on them though.