Idle Wells are a Major Risk
Designating a well as “idle” is a temporary solution for operators, but comes at a great economic and environmental cost to Californians Idle wells are oil and gas wells which are not in use for production, injection, or other purposes, but also have not been permanently sealed. During a well’s productive phase, it is pumping […]
Literally Millions of Failing, Abandoned Wells
By Kyle Ferrar, Western Program Coordinator, FracTracker Alliance In California’s Central Valley and along the South Coast, there are many communities littered with abandoned oil and gas wells, buried underground. Many have had homes, buildings, or public parks built over top of them. Some of them were never plugged, and many of those that were […]
Wicked Witch of the Waste
The Great Plains has become the unconventional oil & gas industry’s dumping ground, prompting questions about the security and resilience of the bread basket and the underlying Ogalalla Aquifer Back in December of 2016, FracTracker analyzed the growing link between injection wells that dispose fracking waste and “induced seismicity” [1], or human-caused earthquakes. Our compiled […]
The Growing Web of Oil and Gas Pipelines
Although the vast majority of scientists agree that we must rapidly move away from fossil fuels to avoid a human-caused climate catastrophe by the end of this century, pipeline construction remains a big business. Pipelines are the backbone of domestic fossil fuel use and for delivering fuels to terminals for international export. Yet aside from […]
Sow Love and Hope with FracTracker
FracTracker Alliance celebrates February, the “month of love,” as we do most months – by striving to help people and the planet. A few weeks ago, we sent checks to four organizations who were recipients of our December “spreading the cheer initiative,” receiving half our online donations that month in honor of the four winners […]
Unnatural Disasters
Guest blog by Meryl Compton, policy associate with Frontier Group Roughly half of the homes in America use gas for providing heat, hot water or powering appliances. If you use gas in your home, you know that leaks are bad – they waste money, they pollute the air, and, if exposed to a spark, they […]
Getting Rid of All of that Waste – Increasing Use of Oil and Gas Injection Wells in Pennsylvania
Oil and gas development generates a lot of liquid waste. Some of the waste comes that comes out of a well is from the geologic layer where the oil and gas resources are located. These extremely saline brines may be described as “natural,” but that does not make them safe, as they contain dangerous levels […]
Seeking new Manager of Communications and Development – based in Pittsburgh or Harrisburg, PA
Job Announcement and Online Application: Manager of Communications and Development, FracTracker Alliance Job Description PURPOSE: Manage all external communications activities of the organization; Cultivate and maintain strategic relationships with partner organizations and institutions; Promote and coordinate college internship program; Manage cyber security activities; In coordination with Executive Director, execute organizational fundraising activities including proposal development, […]
A Disturbing Tale of Diminishing Returns in Ohio
Utica oil and gas production, Class II injection well volumes, and lateral length trends from 2010-2018 The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) recently announced that Ohio’s recoverable shale gas reserves have magically increased by 11,076 billion cubic feet (BCF). This increase ranks the Buckeye State in the top 5 for changes in recoverable shale natural gas […]
Pennsylvania Drilling Trends in 2018
With the new year underway, it’s an opportune moment to reflect on the state of unconventional oil and gas extraction in Pennsylvania and examine a few of the drilling trends. A logical place to start is looking at the new wells drilled in 2018. As always, but perhaps even more so than in previous years, […]
