Known and Anticipated Health Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing P R E - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Known and Anticipated Health Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing P R E S E N T A T I O N B Y F R A N K R . S M I T H R E T I R E D P R O F E S S O R O F C H E M I S T R Y F O R N L C A H R R E G O N T H E H E A L T H I M P A C T S O F F R A C K I N G P R E S E N T A T I O N T O : T H E N E W F O U N D L A N D & L A B R A D O R H Y D R A U L I C F R A C T U R I N G R E V I E W P A N E L O C T O B E R 6 T H , 2 0 1 5 R E V I S E D & A M E N D E D F O R N O V E M B E R 9 T H , 2 0 1 5

Summary of Health Concerns about Fracking in NL T h e R E G o n t h e H e a l t h I m p a c t s o f F r a c k i n g a r e o p p o s e d t o p e r m i t t i n g h y d r a u l i c f r a c t u r i n g i n t h i s p r o v i n c e f o r t h e f o l l o w i n g r e a s o n s :  U n a v a i l a b i l i t y o f s u f f i c i e n t f r e s h w a t e r w i t h o u t d e p l e t i o n o f p o t a b l e w a t e r s o u r c e s .  C o n t a m i n a t i o n o f t h e d o m e s t i c w a t e r s u p p l y .  T h e u n p r e c e d e n t e d n a t u r e o f f r a c k i n g i n t o t h e o c e a n .  T h e h i g h p r o b a b i l i t y o f g r e a t l y i n c r e a s e d a i r p o l l u t i o n b y s m a l l p a r t i c l e s a n d o z o n e a r i s i n g f r o m v a s t l y i n c r e a s e d t r u c k t r a f f i c , p u m p i n g a n d d r i l l i n g a n d e m i s s i o n s f r o m f r a c k i n g i t s e l f . T h i s w o u l d i m p a c t t h e t o u r i s m p o t e n t i a l a n d w e a l t h o f t h e r e g i o n a s w e l l a s t h e h e a l t h o f e m p l o y e e s , r e s i d e n t s a n d v i s i t o r s .  T h e l o w p r o b a b i l i t y o f s i g n i f i c a n t e m p l o y m e n t f r o m h y d r a u l i c f r a c t u r i n g , c o u p l e d w i t h h i g h l o c a l l y b o r n e c l e a n u p c o s t s .  A h i g h p r o b a b i l i t y o f a d v e r s e h e a l t h i m p a c t s t o t h e y o u n g e r m e m b e r s o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n , i n c l u d i n g t h o s e a s y e t u n b o r n . P L U S A l l t h e r e a s o n s e n u n c i a t e d b y t h e C o n c e r n e d H e a l t h P r o f e s s i o n a l s o f N e w Y o r k i n t h e i r C o m p e n d i u m . P L U S t h e r e a s o n s e x p r e s s e d b y R e v . D r . P . W . A l l d e r d i c e i n a s e p a r a t e s u b m i s s i o n .

Concerned Health Professionals of New York  Fresh water use  Wastewater disposal  Toxicity and radioactivity  Hazardous chemicals  Well bore leakage  Occupational health & safety

Decem ber 20 14 CHPNY Com pendium LINK: http:/ / concernedhealthny.org/ compendium/ • Exceptionally large volumes of fresh water. • Wastewater disposal: purification for potable use difficult. • Toxicity and radioactivity of “produced water”. • Large volumes of hazardous chemicals : direct escape to water table; some left below water table. • Leakage from the well bore of methane or hydrocarbon liquids, oils etc. into the water table. • Hazardous chemicals and employee health. • Sand and silicosis among workers.

Concerned Health Professionals of New York  Air pollution (trucking & pumping)  Earthquakes  Erosion & flooding  Noise & light pollution  Methane leakage & flaring

Concerned Health Professionals of New York Other risks from Decem ber 20 14 CHPNY Com pendium LINK: http:/ / concernedhealthny.org/ compendium/ • Air pollution from excessive truck traffic: bringing water, sand and chemicals to the site. And from pumping. • Significant earthquakes associated with hydraulic fracturing. • Landscape erosion. • Flooding. • Noise pollution of the operation. • Light pollution from the operation. • Leakage from the well bore etc. of methane gas into air. • Blow off of methane and flaring pollution.

Energy & Commerce Committee Report : “Chemicals Used in Hydraulic Fracturing” Bet ween 20 0 5 & 20 0 9 , 14 oil& gas ser vice com p an ies u sed 2 5 0 0 h yd r au lic fr act u r in g ad d it ives con t ain in g 75 0 d iffer en t ch em icals, a t ot al volu m e of 78 0 m illion gallon s. 9 3.6 m illion gallon s of t h ese wer e 2 79 p r od u ct s con t ain in g u n d i s c l o s e d c h e m i c a l s .

THE NATURE and IDENTITY (or not) of FRACTURING FLUIDS  Fracturing fluids contain several different chemical additives that, depending on the operator and reservoir, are mixed in different recipes. In response to public concern about the risks that these chemical additives pose to human health and the environment, an increasing number of jurisdictions require disclosure. British Columbia and Alberta, for example, require operators to post on a public website (fracfocus.ca) the chemical additives used in their fracturing fluids on a per well basis, along with their maximum concentration, within 30 days of completing a fracturing job (B.C. Oil and Gas Commission, 2012b; AER, 2012c, 2012f).  Exceptions are permitted in both these provinces for ingredients considered trade secrets (i.e., confidential business information). For a component to be considered a trade secret, a claim of exemption must be filed with Health Canada and the Hazardous Materials Information Review Act (HMIRA) registry number must be provided (B.C. Oil and Gas Commission, 2012b; AER, 2012c).  Certain government officials and medical professionals are able to access information on the trade secret using the HMIRA number under specific circumstances (Minister of Justice, 2013). In Alberta, if a trade secret is considered nonhazardous, then only the chemical family name needs to be listed (in addition to the maximum concentration) (AER, 2012c). Van Stempvoort and Roy (2011) IS THIS GOOD ENOUGH? WE DON’T THINK SO. •

The potent m ixture behind fracking fluids Excerpts from article by Carrie Tait, Globe and Mail, March 10 th 2012 Trican Well Service Ltd. uses guar bean gum as its preferred frack additive. Hydraulic fracturing companies use dozens of additives – plenty of which are harmful chemicals. Fracking is different from drilling, which precedes it. Pumper trucks push frack fluid through a pipe connected to the wellhead and down the wellbore. Nitrogen is also used and pumped at extremely high pressures, mixing with frack fluid and causing the target rock layer to crack. A typical fracture will be 1 cm wide, 30 m high, and 100m long, and comes with smaller splinters. As the fracture grows, sand is added to the frack fluid and into the cracks, typically 800 - 3500 m below the surface, and stretch horizontally 1,000 - 1,800 m.

Secrecy, safety Last April, the U.S. House of Representatives energy and commerce committee reported on “Chemicals Used in Hydraulic Fracturing” in the U.S. and concluded that 2,500 fracturing products were in use. These contain 750 different chemical compounds, 650 of which are known or possible carcinogens or hazardous air pollutants (The Fear Of Fracking – Globe & Mail Report on Business, March 10). Questions about the safety of the process are compounded by the secrecy surrounding the chemicals in the hydraulic fracturing fluids. Some fracking companies are injecting fluids containing unknown chemicals, about which they have limited understanding of the potential risks to human health – these products are “proprietary” or “trade secret” and have no MSDS (material safety data sheet) information. Also, surely the very act of fracturing the rock below makes contamination of waters above more probable? Frank R. Sm ith, Fellow of the Chem ical Institute Of Canada, St. John’s

Comments on Chemicals Proposed by Black Spruce Exploration Additive Example Effectiveness Health Problems? Borates Na 3 BO 3 Borate cross-linked Borax gentle, non- gel increases toxic cleaning agent. viscosity. Reverse crosslink by altering pH. TLV: 5mg/m 3 Zirconates Na 2 ZrO 4 Similar to borates. Polyacrylamide “Slicks” the water. Possible de- CH 2 -HC-C=O-NH 2 Reduces friction polymerization to between acrylamide: TLV: 0.3 mg/m 3 pipe and fluid. Dust irritates skin, eyes and CNS.

Comments on Chemicals Proposed by Black Spruce Exploration Additive Example Effectiveness Health Problems? Guar bean gum Thickens sand mix. Used in ice cream Citric acid Prevents oxide pptn. Lemon juice. Lauryl sulfate, Prevents emulsion Toxic to aquatics. sodium formation in fluid. Sodium hydroxide As required; adjusts Formed from soap. pH. Sodium Prevents scale Household cleaning poly-carboxylate deposits in pipe. detergent. 2-butoxyethanol = Surfactant, used in Respiratory irritant, hemolysis!!; (eyes/ butylcellosolve = cleaning agents. skin) TLV: 50/25 ppm; ethylene glycol flash point = 61 o C. monobutyl ether TLV means Threshold Limit Value (not to be exceeded)

COLORADO August 2008 Near-fatality – Secrecy blamed Cathy Behr, an emergency room nurse in Durango, Colo., had almost died after treating a wildcatter who had been splashed in a fracking fluid spill at a BP natural gas rig. The hospital sounded alarms and locked down the ER. But a few days later Behr lay in critical condition facing multiple organ failure. Her doctors searched for details that could save their patient. Behr’s doctor learned, weeks later, what ZetaFlow, a drill stimulation fluid, was made of, but he was sworn to secrecy by the chemical’s manufacturer, and could not tell his patient.