Safety Rules for Fracking Disposal Wells Often Ignored

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=safety-rules-for-fracking-disposal-wells-often-ignored


Aerial view showing typical drilling activity in the Pinedale Anticline natural gas field of Wyoming. Drilling fluids (reddish-brown) are being expelled into open pits.
Image: Jonathan Selkowitz, Selko Photo for SkyTruth


On a cold, overcast afternoon in January 2003, two tanker trucks backed up to an injection well site in a pasture outside Rosharon, Texas. There, under a steel shed, they began to unload thousands of gallons of wastewater for burial deep beneath the earth.

The waste – the byproduct of oil and gas drilling – was described in regulatory documents as a benign mixture of salt and water. But as the liquid rushed from the trucks, it released a billowing vapor of far more volatile materials, including benzene and other flammable hydrocarbons.

The truck engines, left to idle by their drivers, sucked the fumes from the air, revving into a high-pitched whine. Before anyone could react, one of the trucks backfired, releasing a spark that ignited the invisible cloud.