HUGE NEW OILFIELDS DISCOVERED IN TEXAS...

[Geee]

New York Times:

CATARINA, Tex. — Until last year, the 17-mile stretch of road between this forsaken South Texas village and the county seat of Carrizo Springs was a patchwork of derelict gasoline stations and rusting warehouses.


Michael Stravato for The New York Times
A Chesapeake Energy drilling site near Big Wells, Tex. More Photos »
Now the region is in the hottest new oil play in the country, with giant oil terminals and sprawling RV parks replacing fields of mesquite. More than a dozen companies plan to drill up to 3,000 wells around here in the next 12 months.

The Texas field, known as the Eagle Ford, is just one of about 20 new onshore oil fields that advocates say could collectively increase the nation’s oil output by 25 percent within a decade — without the dangers of drilling in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico or the delicate coastal areas off Alaska.

There is only one catch: the oil from the Eagle Ford and similar fields of tightly packed rock can be extracted only by using hydraulic fracturing, a method that uses a high-pressure mix of water, sand and hazardous chemicals to blast through the rocks to release the oil inside.

[clearvision]

Great News! Oh wait, there is a "catch"... it hurts the environment. Oh wait again, the people affected want to go for the oil. What to do? Texas says YES! US (GOV) will say?.... No?

[Argyle58]

Fracking has been used for years, primarily to revitalize wells that have stopped producing, and the chemicals used are no more hazardous than the standard drilling "mud" that is used in every well drilled. The EPA and OSHA have strict guidelines to insure against damage and injuries from spills. As is usual for the tree huggers, this is much ado about nothing.

[Sanguine]

Fracking has been used for years, primarily to revitalize wells that have stopped producing, and the chemicals used are no more hazardous than the standard drilling "mud" that is used in every well drilled. The EPA and OSHA have strict guidelines to insure against damage and injuries from spills. As is usual for the tree huggers, this is much ado about nothing.

 

Agreed.