Fracking Contaminates Our Ground Water?

Fracking Contaminates Our Ground Water?

This blog piece attempts to examine whether any harm will take place from the oil well method of fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, where huge amounts of water that is mixed with chemicals could be poisonous to our population now and into the future.  Our concern is this.  Is there any potential for the contamination of local community aquifer layer where ground water can be extracted?

It appears that fracking is currently taking place in a very significant way.  Problem is, there appears not to be any meaningful studies that can prove yes or no or how much  ground water contamination is there or might be in the future.  We have heard reports that methanol is escaping from compromised oil well casings and entering ground water supplies.

From: Health Impact Assessment of Shale Gas Extraction: Workshop Summary ( 2014 ) Page 67:

Dr. Swackhamer stressed that each of the steps of the water cycle in hydraulic fracturing constitutes a potential risk for water contamination and consequent impact on the environment. Not only with wells that are used for shale gas extraction, but in general all wells of similar construction present the most noticeable weaknesses in their physical structure. Most reports on contamination of aquifers pinpoint the cause of contamination as a leak of the well casing, pipes, or storage tanks. The integrity of the wells is critical in their operation and in the minimization of risk. Some of the wells are intended to be used several times, debilitating the structure and compromising operations. In terms of water use, the fluid is injected in the well at extremely high pressures under circumstances that are not completely known. Any engineering structure has a failure rate.

After the fluid has been injected and the fissures in the rock have been opened, there is not a clear indication of what happens to that water. There are estimates that the flowback or collected water is around 40 percent, but some locations have reported a 20 percent and even 80 percent flowback. Considering that a large percentage of the water remains in the ground, it is possible that it can migrate upward or continue to flow for long distances. The gases themselves can be pushed and potentially contaminate aquifers. Another consequence of not accounting for the total balance of injected water and flowback is the accumulation of chemicals in the ground. All the chemicals that are injected in the fluid could prove a more serious long-term contamination problem. Even though the injection is done several thousand feet “underground, the composition of the soil is being altered and there is a disruption in the ecosystem, with unknown consequences.
http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=18376&page=67

It would appear that fracking is so new that science finds itself way behind measuring its long term health impacts upon our aquifers.  Because this practice is currently so wide spread and expanding across the United States, it has the potential to irreparably harm this nation’s water resource if we do not stop fracking or strictly limit it to certain geographical locations so as to study what the health risks, if any may be, and how this may play out for future generations of humane beings.  Another approach is to use no chemical fracking.  The point is to hold fast until science can catch up.  This is not to conclude, at this moment, that the practice is definitely harmful even though common sense seems to indicate that it is, but how about letting the scientists prove that it is safe?

Take Out From Buca di Beppo On Valentines Day 2014.

Take Out From Buca di Beppo On Valentines Day 2014.

Buca di Beppo Brea on Valentine’s Day take out
1609 East Imperial Highway
Brea, CA 92821

Not recommended for take out on Valentines Day.

Traffic:  I found traffic atrocious at about 5:15 on Valentine’s Day around this restaurant.  I used side streets to avoid traffic around Imperial Highway and Associated road.
Parking:  This shopping center had a lack of adequate parking near this restaurant.  I drove around and around trying to find a parking spot but could not.  I had to park illegally behind the restaurant parallel to where they dump their trash.
Service: The restaurant take out line was so long it reached the front door and it moved very, very, slowly.
Our pick up time was 5:30.  Our food was already prepared by the kitchen staff, bagged and the paid receipt was hung on the wall inside the take out closet just waiting for me to pick it up.  I did not reach the take out person until about 20 minutes after I arrived.
Our order was made using the Internet using Buca di Beppo web site so the items were preselected and paid for.  Quite a few people in the take out line did not pre-order but decided what to buy when they reached the take out booth.  The only menu was at this counter which was a big mistake.
A waitress came up to the people that were close to the take out window to see if they had pre-ordered or not.  I was able to get my food just before reaching the cashier but had to wait quite a long time to pay and get out of the place.  The person in front of me took his time deciding what to buy and the cashier typing in the order did so with a computer screen instead of a keyboard.  I could see her fingers slowly traversing the screen typing out the fellow’s order.
The food comes in very good aluminum containers.  You can not microwave using these containers so you must put the containers in an oven which requires more wait time or you can dish what you want on to a plate and then microwave.
We ordered a salad which came in a very large bowl and the salad dressing was adequate and in side containers.
The spaghetti marinara dish had very little tomato sauce, a telling deficiency.  My wife took some extra tomato sauce from the (wrong) chicken dish and poured it on to the spaghetti which helped a little.  I doused the dish with Parmesan cheese which helped.
The main meat dish should have been chicken Limone but we received chicken parmigiana instead.
They did get the desert correctly, large chocolate chip cannolis.

The pre-order process did ensure that our food was ready to be picked up but that is the only advantage.  I surmise that if we had table reservations, instead of take out, we could have had a much better and quicker meal.

The total bill for 4 people was $59.80.

Summary:  Take out for me is this.  You arrive, pay; they hand you your food and you leave in quick time.  Take out at this restaurant on Valentines Day for me was the opposite, a dreadful slow painful process.  I will never do this again.  I totally understand that the restaurant had no control over traffic and parking.  The lesson for me is to celebrate Valentines Day some other day when the automobiles and restaurant are more relaxed to perform better.  The restaurant made a large number of mistakes probably due to the speed at which they had to push out product and being swamped with customers all wanting attention.

  1. They should have had a person going down the take out line seeing if anyone had a pre-order.  That person could call using a FRS radio or go and get the completed order and holding a mobile credit card device complete the transaction.  They also could have had two people side by side dealing with take out.  Both those improvements would have sped up the line.  Even better yet, they should have directed all take out orders to a separate entrance next to the freeway.
  2. The kitchen staff could have shown more professionalism in their preparation and delivery.
  3. Almost every other take out establishment that I have used in the past, I find my food hot enough upon arriving home to sit down and eat right away but not with this meal.
Ford 2006 Escape – Lessons Learned (#6 in a series).

Ford 2006 Escape – Lessons Learned (#6 in a series).

  •  This Ford Escape experience seems directly related to why I love the Mac and despise Windows computers.  I work for a university and they have to hire a lot of computer support people because the Windows computers are like Ford and the Mac is like a Toyota.   I am a contract worker so I should love Windows computers because I can increase my billing hours.  I am always having to repair Windows but Mac issues are vastly insignificant in comparison.  My point is that you can buy cheap computers so your immediate up front cost is less.  The problem with this “logic” is it may cost much more if you tally all the time and money you spend over the life of the device.
  • If you have a daughter or son, take the time to make a well researched vehicle choice that  is Mac like, reliable and safe.
  • Really consider buying Japanese automobiles.  There are web sites and cell phone applications that will help you to easily decode the VIN numbers so you can be sure of where the vehicle came from.  Use the words “vin number decoder” when doing a Google search.
  • If you buy a Ford consider buying an extended warrantee.  If you buy a Ford also consider buying AAA Premium.  If you buy a Ford and live in a cold climate, store survival gear in the trunk.
  • I still think that the dealership should be an important component for choosing a vehicle.  The mistake I made was that we should have decided upon the vehicle first and then found a dealership that could best buy from and support our choice.  We did go back to McCoy Mills because we could not find fault with them and their front end service people were perfect.  And, have asked them to find us a Toyota RAV 4.

 

Ford 2006 Escape – Analysis (#5 in a series)

Ford 2006 Escape – Analysis (#5 in a series)

Within a span of one week the Escape was in for repair three times.  Without making any comments to my daughter about how I felt about the Escape, I asked her how she felt about the car.  She said she had lost confidence in it.  She reminded me that she had planned trips to other cities and the mountains but she was now fearful that the car would break down.  I then told her that I felt the same way.  We were going to get rid of the Escape.   We would never buy another Ford.  This was getting to be similar to my Volkswagen bus experience.  I would never buy a Volkswagen ever again because my bus had a Porsche pancake engine with sodium valves which separated about every fifty thousand miles, requiring an engine rebuild.  When I determine that a product engineering team and/or assembly workers can make such bone headed mistakes I immediately dismiss them from future consideration.  I would be stupid to be twice burned.

Ford 2006 Escape – Tow Truck Driver (#4 in a series).

Ford 2006 Escape – Tow Truck Driver (#4 in a series).

I have AAA Premium so I had the Ford Escape towed to the dealership at no cost to me after I lost power steering.  AAA even offered my a free rental car if I needed it but I declined.  The way things were going with this Ford vehicle, I might really need it at a later date.  When the tow truck driver arrived, I explained the problems I was having with this Escape and asked him what vehicle he recommended.  He said purchase a Japanese car.  He then told me to buy a Toyota RAV4.  I asked why.  He replied that the Japanese workers have pride in the cars they build.  They believe it is their car that they are building.  He then described the US worker has no self pride in their product.  I then asked him how can I determine that I am getting a Japanese car?  He walked me over to the Escape and opened the drive door and pointed to the sticker on the door frame.  He said take note of the first letter or number.  That tells you which country it is made.  The Escape had the number “1” as the first digit which indicates the United States.  He then told me to buy a car the has a “J” which means it is made in Japan.  I asked him why he liked the RAV4.  His reply was a bit remarkable.  He told me that he has never had to tow one.

I get Consumer Reports and as soon as the tow truck driver left with our Escape, I went inside the house and found the Consumer Reports Buying Guide 2014.  I looked up “Used Cars: The Most Reliable Models &* The Ones To Avoid”, page 180 and 181.  Under the “Best of the Best” was listed Toyota RAV 4 and it was listed twice!  On the facing page was The “Worst of the Worst” and not one Japanese car was on that list but mainly US vehicles and a couple from Europe.