ONE VERY IMPORTANT ITEM IN OUR NEWS today is our aquifers. We are hearing that our water supply is disappearing, that the water that remains is contaminated with chemicals and or salt, and the land in many states is SINKING!
In today’s post we are going to look at those reports and the stories that are associated with them. We will see what the elite are telling us and we will see what other evidence we can uncover. The truth is out there… we just have to sort through the BS to find it.
Before we start looking at all the bad news in this post, I want to begin with a word from the WORD.
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. Matthew 7:24-27
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As the time of the end approaches events will become more and more frightening and dangerous. Perilous Times! But, FEAR NOT, for GOD IS ALWAYS IN CONTROL. Honor HIM in all things, GIVE THANKS IN ALL THINGS, ACKNOWLEDGE HIM in all your ways, and HE WILL DIRECT YOUR PATH. He is your provider, protector, and healer. DO NOT PUT YOUR FAITH IN MAN! DO NOT PUT YOUR FAITH IN SCIENCE!
Across America, Big Cities Are Sinking. Here’s Why.
A major reason is too much groundwater is being pumped out, new research shows, threatening buildings and infrastructure nationwide.
A new analysis of America’s 28 largest population centers found that all but three are sinking overall, and in many cases significantly.
Several of the most affected areas are in Texas, particularly around Fort Worth and Houston. But the problem is nationwide, affecting cities as scattered as Seattle, Detroit and Charlotte, N.C.
The sinking of land, also called subsidence, can worsen the effects of sea-level rise, intensify flooding and strain the very foundations of urban infrastructure.
The new research, published in the scientific journal Nature Cities, built on previous work using satellite measurements to paint a detailed picture of rising and falling land. It also closely examined the connection between changes in land elevation and changes in groundwater, using data from individual monitoring wells.
Water pumped from wells isn’t something that people think about often. “You just turn on your tap, do what you need to do, and you go on your way,” said Leonard Ohenhen, a researcher at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and lead author of the study.
But extracting more water than can be replenished “can have a direct relationship with what happens on the surface,” he said. “You can cause the ground to sink significantly.”
A 2023 New York Times investigation found that unsustainable pumping of water from underground aquifers can be a major cause of sinking land.
Other factors also influence land elevation. For example, a vast expanse of bedrock beneath parts of the country, pressed downward by enormous glaciers during the last ice age, is slowly rebounding back into place. But over time it creates a sort of see-saw effect that today is adding 1 to 2 millimeters per year to subsidence rates in much of the northern United States.
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The East Coast Is Sinking |
America Is Using Up Its Groundwater Like There’s No Tomorrow |
Texas draws immense amounts of groundwater for agriculture, industry and the public water supply. The extraction of oil and gas, including the growing use of “monster fracks,” can also cause the land surface to slump.
Climate change can worsen the issue. Hotter temperatures and more extreme droughts, particularly in the West, dry out soil, streams and reservoirs, leading people to pump larger quantities of freshwater from underground.
Americans have also been moving in droves to some of the hottest and driest parts of the country. In the past few decades, metro areas in Texas have ballooned in population and sprawl.
Groundwater depletion was the main cause of subsidence in Houston between the 1950s and 70s, when nearly all water usage came from the ground, said Bob Wang, a professor of geophysics at the University of Houston. Cracked roads and buildings were a common sight.
Several subsidence-management districts were established in the area to address the issue. Among other things, groundwater use was reduced and instead more water was taken from surface-water sources such as rivers. Subsidence has since slowed in the city center.
However, when new neighborhoods developed to support growing populations, the most affordable source of water was often what people could pump from below.
Houston2.3 million residents
Subsidence is in itself a hazard. But when adjacent land sinks at different rates, or when sinking occurs next to land that’s rising, it can cause roads and buildings to crack. Though this process happens slowly, in millimeters per year, over time it can create added stress to infrastructure in areas where flooding, earthquakes or sea level rise are already a problem.
Extreme weather adds to the risk. When surface soils expand during extreme rainfall, then compact during prolonged droughts, it can lead to structural damage. “In the Houston area, foundation repair is a very good business,” said Dr. Wang.
Cities along the coast, which are often built on soft soil or marshland like Houston, can be particularly vulnerable. But the research paper also looked at inland cities facing similar sinking challenges.
Phoenix, a desert city, has a long history of groundwater depletion but has managed to turn things around. After the state of Arizona implemented its 1980 Groundwater Management Act, management districts were established and many conservation rules were put in place.
Phoenix1.6 million residents
Still, the legacy of overpumping still affects the area. One reason is that, once groundwater is pumped out, it can be difficult if not impossible for some aquifers to recharge and refill to their earlier levels. In other words, it’s very hard to reverse land that has already settled.
Subsidence can still occur “even as groundwater levels recover, because the pore spaces in the sub-surface that were once being held open by groundwater are now just filled with air,” said Brian Conway, a principal hydrogeologist at the Arizona Department of Water Resources. Those spaces sometimes can be refilled with water, but sometimes they compress and can’t be recharged.
In Phoenix, managed recharge has helped to fill those pore spaces, replenishing underground reservoirs. While subsidence still occurs, it’s a far cry from the rates that caused a record 18 feet of elevation drop in Phoenix between the 1950s and 1990s.
Outside the city, however, land is still sinking as fast as ever.
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8 States That Are Running Out of Groundwater Fast (21 out of 48)
California’s relationship with water is as dramatic as its landscapes. The Central Valley, often called the nation’s salad bowl, relies almost entirely on groundwater to produce more than half of the country’s fruits and vegetables. Intense droughts combined with relentless agricultural demand have caused groundwater levels to plummet at shocking rates. In some regions, land has actually sunk by several feet—a process called subsidence—due to aquifer depletion. The state’s 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) was a historic attempt to address the problem, requiring local water agencies to create plans for sustainable use. Yet, change is slow, and the pressure from both cities and farms makes recovery feel like a race against time. Californians are now facing tough choices: rethinking crop choices, investing in new technology, and learning to live with less. The question remains—can innovation and regulation save the Golden State’s precious groundwater before it’s too late?
Everything’s bigger in Texas—including its water challenges. The Ogallala Aquifer, stretching beneath the Texas Panhandle, is one of the world’s largest underground water sources. But for decades, Texan farmers have pumped water from it to irrigate vast fields of cotton, corn, and wheat. The result? Water levels in some parts of the aquifer have dropped more than 100 feet, forcing wells to run dry. In central Texas, rapid urban growth adds even more strain, as cities compete with farms for dwindling supplies. The state is encouraging water-saving irrigation and alternative crops, but old habits die hard. Some rural communities are already facing the very real prospect of running out of water entirely, and the race to adapt is growing more urgent each year. Texans are renowned for their resilience, but the scale of the groundwater crisis is testing the limits of that legendary spirit.
Arizona’s scorching sun and endless blue skies mask a troubling reality beneath the surface. The state’s cities, from Phoenix to Tucson, and its sprawling farmlands have long depended on groundwater to survive the relentless desert heat. With Colorado River supplies shrinking, reliance on underground water has intensified. Some aquifers have dropped by more than 300 feet in recent decades, and wells that once gave life now yield nothing but dust. The Arizona Groundwater Management Act was a groundbreaking law that put limits on pumping, but enforcement and loopholes often leave aquifers vulnerable. As new housing developments spring up in the desert, the fight for water becomes fiercer. The struggle to balance growth, agriculture, and nature is becoming Arizona’s defining challenge—one that will shape its future for generations.
Nevada’s glittering cities and wild landscapes are facing a stark duel with scarcity. Las Vegas, the state’s crown jewel, famously draws much of its water from Lake Mead. Yet, with the Colorado River drying up, Southern Nevada is turning more and more to its underground reserves. In rural Nevada, ranchers and small towns have long depended on groundwater, but over-extraction has left water tables dangerously low. In some valleys, springs have dried up, and the land itself is slowly sinking. The state has tried to limit new wells and manage withdrawals, but competing interests often clash. Nevada’s future may hinge on tough decisions about growth and water rights—and whether it can find a way to thrive with less.
New Mexico’s enchanting deserts and ancient pueblos hide a story of water stress that’s as old as the state itself. The Rio Grande Basin, a critical lifeline for both people and farming, is drying up. As surface water supplies dwindle, communities have turned to groundwater, sometimes drilling wells hundreds of feet deep. Over the past 20 years, aquifer levels in key agricultural areas have fallen dramatically, leaving some fields fallow and threatening local economies. The state has rolled out water-saving incentives, but the tug-of-war between urban development and traditional farming has only intensified. New Mexicans are fiercely protective of their water, but the battle to balance use and conservation is becoming more desperate each year.
Colorado, with its rugged mountains and sweeping plains, is a state defined by water—both its abundance in some places and its scarcity in others. The Front Range, home to cities like Denver and Colorado Springs, relies on both surface and groundwater for its booming population. Meanwhile, the eastern plains depend almost exclusively on aquifers to irrigate corn and wheat fields. Heavy pumping has caused groundwater levels to drop, sometimes forcing farmers to abandon their land. The Colorado Water Plan, introduced in 2015, aims to promote conservation and smarter use, but the competing needs of farms, cities, and the environment make compromise difficult. As climate change brings hotter, drier conditions, the pressure on Colorado’s precious underground water is only growing.
Kansas is a farming powerhouse, but its success has come at a steep cost. The High Plains Aquifer, including the Ogallala, has been the backbone of Kansas agriculture for generations. Today, in some western counties, groundwater levels have dropped by more than 50 feet in just a few decades. Fields that once yielded bumper crops now struggle as wells run dry or become too expensive to operate. The state has launched voluntary conservation programs and encouraged farmers to use more efficient irrigation, but progress is slow. Without more aggressive action, experts warn that some regions of Kansas could become too dry for large-scale farming within a generation—a prospect that sends shockwaves through rural communities.
Florida is famous for its beautiful springs and crystal-clear drinking water, but a hidden crisis is bubbling beneath the surface. Rapid population growth, booming tourism, and thirsty farms are all drawing more and more water from the state’s underground aquifers. In some areas, the water table has dropped so low that saltwater from the ocean is creeping inland, contaminating wells. Sinkholes—sudden collapses of land—have become more common as aquifers are drained. State officials are encouraging water-saving technologies and tighter regulations, but the challenges of balancing people, agriculture, and the environment are daunting. With millions of new residents expected over the next decade, Florida’s groundwater crisis may soon become impossible to ignore.
Oklahoma’s rolling plains and busy farmlands have always depended on the bounty below ground. The state taps into the Ogallala and other aquifers to irrigate crops and supply towns. But years of heavy pumping have driven some wells to the brink, particularly in western Oklahoma. Farmers are switching to less water-intensive crops, but many face difficult choices as water becomes scarcer and more expensive. Local water districts are encouraging conservation, but the culture of abundance is hard to shake. As droughts become more frequent, Oklahoma’s groundwater dilemma is pushing families and communities to rethink what’s possible.
Arkansas is known for its lush forests and rivers, yet its agricultural heartland is running dry. The Mississippi River Alluvial Aquifer, which supports much of the state’s rice and soybean farming, is being pumped at unsustainable rates. In some counties, groundwater levels have fallen by more than 100 feet, and wells must be drilled deeper each year. The state has launched efforts to promote water-saving irrigation and recharge aquifers, but economic pressures make rapid change difficult. Many farmers worry about the future of their livelihoods as the water that once seemed endless now feels alarmingly finite.
Nebraska sits atop a vast portion of the Ogallala Aquifer, but even here, the warning signs are growing. Decades of irrigation have lowered water tables in several areas, threatening the state’s reputation as a breadbasket. Some counties have imposed pumping limits and encouraged crop rotation, but the sheer scale of agriculture makes slowing depletion a challenge. In the Sandhills region, fragile ecosystems could be lost if groundwater continues to drop. Nebraskans pride themselves on stewardship, but the balancing act between productivity and sustainability is becoming increasingly delicate.
Utah’s arid climate and snow-capped peaks create a sharp contrast—and a sharp demand for water. As rivers shrink and rainfall becomes unpredictable, Utahns are drilling deeper for groundwater. In some valleys, aquifer levels have dropped so much that the ground is actually cracking and sinking. The state government has called for aggressive conservation and smarter growth policies, but population booms in places like Salt Lake City make the task daunting. Farmers, municipalities, and developers are all vying for a limited resource, and finding common ground is proving difficult.
Idaho’s famous potatoes and vibrant fields owe their existence to the water beneath the ground. But recent years have seen a dramatic drop in the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer, one of the largest in the West. Over-pumping for irrigation and drought have left some wells dry and forced farmers to cut back on planting. State leaders are encouraging recharge projects, where water is deliberately returned to the aquifer, but keeping up with demand is a tough challenge. Idaho’s groundwater gamble will define whether its agricultural legacy can withstand the pressures of modern life.
Mississippi’s groundwater story is one of both abundance and risk. The state’s deep aquifers have supplied cities, farms, and industry for generations. Yet, in parts of the Mississippi Delta, heavy irrigation has led to declining water tables and sinking land. The state is beginning to monitor usage more closely and encourage conservation, but decades of overuse are hard to reverse. As the climate warms and rainfall patterns shift, Mississippi’s groundwater future is anything but certain.
Georgia’s growing cities and thriving agriculture have put its aquifers to the test. In coastal areas, over-pumping has allowed saltwater to infiltrate freshwater wells—a problem that threatens both drinking water and the famous Georgia peaches. The state has imposed restrictions on well drilling and promoted water-saving technologies, but the pressures of urbanization continue to mount. Residents and farmers alike are learning that every drop counts, and the search for solutions is more urgent than ever.
South Dakota may not be the first state that comes to mind in a water crisis, but beneath its vast prairies lies a subtle emergency. The state draws heavily from aquifers for irrigation and rural water systems. In western regions, prolonged drought and increased pumping have combined to lower water tables and stress local wells. Farmers are experimenting with new techniques, but many worry that the next dry spell could push the system past its limit.
Illinois is a powerhouse of corn and soybean production, but it’s facing a less visible crisis underground. Heavy reliance on groundwater in central and southern counties has led to declining levels in some key aquifers. Municipalities are investing in monitoring and conservation, yet population growth and agricultural expansion are making recovery difficult. The state’s delicate balance between economic growth and sustainable water use is reaching a tipping point.
Wisconsin is known for its lakes, but its groundwater is just as important—and just as threatened. Parts of the state have seen aquifer levels drop due to over-pumping for agriculture and industry. In areas near Lake Michigan, wells have been contaminated by saltwater intrusion, raising alarm bells for public health. The state is investing in new technologies and stricter regulations, but the path to sustainable use is long and complex. Wisconsin’s challenge is to maintain its natural beauty and productivity while safeguarding the water below.
Montana’s vast ranches and wheat fields stretch as far as the eye can see, but water is growing scarcer each year. Many rural communities depend almost entirely on groundwater, and years of drought have left aquifers depleted. The state is launching studies to better understand the problem and encouraging water-saving practices, but the sense of urgency is building. For many Montanans, the question is no longer if the wells will run dry, but when.
North Dakota’s booming energy sector and expanding agriculture have put new pressures on its groundwater. In the past decade, water use for irrigation and oil extraction has climbed sharply, drawing down aquifers in several regions. The state is monitoring the situation closely and promoting conservation, but maintaining the delicate balance between growth and sustainability is a constant struggle. North Dakotans are beginning to realize that even in the nation’s heartland, water is not an unlimited resource.
Alabama’s rivers and lakes often steal the spotlight, but its groundwater is a lifeline for many rural areas. Over-pumping for agriculture and industry is starting to show effects in parts of the state, with declining water table levels and increased well failures. Efforts are underway to promote better management and conservation, but the issue is often overshadowed by other environmental concerns. As the climate continues to shift, Alabama’s hidden thirst for groundwater is becoming a challenge that cannot be ignored.
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An irrigation system sprays water on a cornfield.Kansas State University Photo Services
Nearly 70 percent of the groundwater stored in parts of the United States’ High Plains Aquifer — a vast underground reservoir that stretches through eight states, from South Dakota to Texas, and supplies 30 percent of the nation’s irrigated groundwater — could be used up within 50 years unless current water use is reduced, a new study finds.
Researchers from Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kan., conducted a four-year study of a portion of the High Plains Aquifer, called the Ogallala Aquifer, which provides the most agriculturally important irrigation in the state of Kansas, and is a key source of drinking water for the region.
If current irrigation trends continue unabated, 69 percent of the available groundwater will be drained in the next five decades, the researchers said in a study published online Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“I think it’s generally understood that the groundwater levels are going down and that at some point in the future groundwater pumping rates are going to have to decrease,” study lead author David Steward, a professor of civil engineering at Kansas State University, said in a statement. “However, there are lots of questions about how long the water will last, how long the aquifer will take to refill and what society can do.” [Earth Checkup: 10 Health Status Signs]
Taking water measurements
Steward and his colleagues collected data on past and present groundwater levels in the Ogallala Aquifer, and developed statistical models to project various scenarios of water depletion over the next 100 years.
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Water from the High Plains Aquifer irrigates a field of corn.Kansas State University Photo Services
Using current trends in water usage as a guide, the researchers estimate that 3 percent of the aquifer’s water was used up by 1960; 30 percent of the aquifer’s water was drained by 2010; and a whopping 69 percent of the reservoir will likely be tapped by 2060. It would take an average of 500 to 1,300 years to completely refill the High Plains Aquifer, Steward added. He doesn’t say how he came up with that estimate.
These guys don’t KNOW anything. They are making “educated guesses”. They have no way to predict what will happen in our environment over the next 50 – 100 years. Scientists and really anyone who has been educated in the USA does not believe in GOD. Therefore, they are always assuming that man is in control. THIS IS A BIG ERROR! God is in control. Water comes from the heavens and there is no shortage of it. God created the world to be self-sustaining and self-healing. Not only that, HE is in Control. He is the CREATOR and this is HIS EARTH. The truth is that man has made a mess of EVERYTHING in his arrogance. God is waiting for people to turn to HIM. Seek HIS face and PRAY. As long as humans think they can do better without HIM, He will allow us to do it our way. We will ALWAYS MAKE A MESS if left to our own devices.
But, if reducing water use becomes an immediate priority, it may be possible to make use of the aquifer’s resources and increase net agricultural production through the year 2110, the researchers said.
A lot of variables
Yet, making projections about water security is challenging, because there are a number of factors to consider, and even though the High Plains Aquifer touches eight different states, the effects can be highly localized, said Bridget Scanlon, a senior research scientist and leader of the Sustainable Water Resources Program at the University of Texas at Austin, who was not involved with the new study.
“We know the aquifer is being depleted, but trying to project long-term is very difficult, because there are climate issues and social aspects that have to be included,” Scanlon told LiveScience. “Projections are so difficult because I think we’re clueless about a lot of things, like extreme weather events.”
Scanlon pointed out that the new study does not consider the impact of extreme weather, such as droughts or floods. In 2011, Texas experienced a devastating drought that cost the state some $8 billion in economic losses, according to a report by Susan Combs, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. NASA satellites that studied the parched land determined that the drought depleted the region’s aquifers to low levels that had rarely been seen since this type of mapping began more than 60 years ago. [Dried Up: Photos Reveal Devastating Texas Drought]
Finding a solution to the groundwater depletion problem is also tricky without unfairly targeting the farmers, Scanlon said.
“Farmers are trying to make a living, and they’re responding to economics,” she explained. “Asking them to drastically reduce water might be like asking me to retire now because there are so many unemployed people.”
Too many unknowns?
Steward and his colleagues anticipate future technologies will help farmers irrigate their land more efficiently. “Water use efficiencies have increased by about 2 percent a year in Kansas, which means that every year we’re growing about 2 percent more crop for each unit of water,” Steward said. “That’s happening because of increased irrigation technology, crop genetics and management strategies.”
But in some areas of the country’s plains, the properties of the groundwater and soil largely dictate the irrigation techniques, Scanlon said. In parts of Texas and Kansas, the groundwater is brinier, which means if some farmers employ more efficient irrigation techniques, they will also be pumping up salty deposits that are not adequately washed away by rainfall.
“This is a very nice study, but we really need to address droughts and socioeconomic issues, and other approaches to figure out the problem, beyond the technical,” Scanlon said. “If we don’t know what we’re doing, are we just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic?”
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We have no idea what kind of Technologies the ruling class are using to run all of the experiments and projects. How much water does it take to run all the Colliders, starting with CERN? How much water is consumed in all industries related to the SPACE PROGRAM? Or the WEAPONS programs? How much water is consumed by the pharmaceutical industry? and so on…
They are always trying to put the load on the public. When our contribution to the problems in miniscule. Sure we can do with a little less and be more conservative, but it won’t really make a very big dent in the problems.
Why are we still allowing FRACKING??? The world is being forced out of the use of oil and gas, and there never was a shortage of those things anyway. I don’t even understand why those industries were allowed to use our WATER. Which is so precious to LIFE! We cannot live without water and food. spacer
Yet, still today most U.S. states allow fracking, though four states have banned the practice as of Feb. 2021: Vermont (2012), New York (temporarily in 2014; permanently in 2020), Maryland (2017), and Washington (2019). In Apr. 2021, California banned new fracking projects as of 2024. Source
So, I don’t want to hear the experts talk about how farming and and individual human’s use of water is the issue. If they are so concerned about the water crisis…then FRACKING should be the first thing to be addressed. Just like those “Stakeholders” who are all upset about the ECOLOGY, if they were serious, they would be pushing for a end to the use of Styrofoam and are man made products that are not biodegradable.
Let’s get some clear understanding of FRACKING.
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Dangers of Fracking
In 2013 the Keystone pipeline debate and a 25-year high in U.S. oil output have made fracking a well-known issue. Opinions on the dangers of fracking have changed quickly, with 49% of Americans opposed to the use of fracking, up from 38% opposition in March, according to a September Pew Poll. Still, the environmental effects that fracking entail are not widely understood. The website www.dangersoffracking.com aims to change that. The well-designed site illustrates the issues associated with fracking in a easy-to-read scrolling HTML5 infographic.
Some of the sobering statistics offered on the site include:
- 600 chemicals are used in fracking fluid, including known carcinogens and toxins like Lead, Uranium, Radium, Methanol, Formaldehyde, Hydrochloric Acid, Mercury, and Ethylene Glycol.
- 144 million gallons of water are used on each active gas well. There are 500,000 active gas wells in the US. That means 72 trillion gallons of water dedicated to fracking US oil wells. For perspective, Elysian Energy was able to save 574 million gallons of water this year, or 0.00079% of the water used for fracking. It would take over 125,000 Elysian Energys to make up for the water used in fracking.
- The carcinogens and toxins used in fracking leach out from the system and contaminate nearby groundwater. Methane concentrations are 17x higher in drinking water wells near fracturing sites than in normal wells.
- Only 30-50% of fracturing fluid is recovered. The rest is left in the ground. It isn’t biodegradable.
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Dangers of Fracking (Here’s What It’s Doing to Your Body)
February 12, 2017
Updated: April 9, 2018
When we talk about health, it’s impossible to ignore the impacts certain types of energy have on our breathing, wellness and even cancer risk. And as our country increasingly looks to ways to fuel the modern lifestyle, it’s important to note the potential health side effects of these tactics. Here, we focus on the dangers of fracking, particularly as it relates to human health. (Fracking is just one energy source contributing to the negative health effects of climate change.) And that damage can occur not only when a person is exposed to fracking pollution in the soil, water or air, but even while a child is still forming in an exposed mother’s womb. And while I focus on the disease risks associated with this modern fuel extraction practice, it’s also important to note the economic burdens included in the dangers of fracking. For instance, costs associated with drinking water contamination in just one town alone are estimated at more than $11 million. (This is Dimock, Pennsylvania, where residents required a permanently drinking water replacement due to irreversible contamination.)Another example? The health costs linked to fracking-related air pollution in Arkansas’ Fayetteville Shale region. This damage is estimated at $9.8 million a year. In Texas’ Barnett Shale region, those costs reach $270,000 per day during the summer smog season. (1) These are high losses for not only quality of life, but whomever is footing the health insurance bills, as well.
Dangers of Fracking: Toxic Chemicals
Otherwise known as unconventional hydraulic fracturing, fracking is increasingly on the radar of public health scientists due to the harmful extraction, processing and emissions created from this fuel source.
Here’s one of many emerging findings I find concerning: More than 1,000 chemicals in hydraulic fracking fluids are linked to reproductive and developmental health problems, according to Yale School of Public Health researchers. The study, published in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental and Epidemiology, voiced concern over how these chemicals could impact current and future generations.
In fracking, industry recovers natural gas from deep within the ground by using a mixture of hydraulic-fracturing fluids that can contain hundreds of chemicals. Sometimes, the drilling goes two miles deep, using high pressure, water and sand to release gas from the rock below.
The problem? Earthquake-level tremors, drinking water pollution and seriously tainted air are real side effects.
For instance, the significant wastewater that flows back to the surface is found to contain fracking fluid chemicals, along with toxic chemicals and radioactive materials from the bedrock it shatters.
Specifically, the Yale team found 157 of the substances used in fracking caused harm. These included arsenic, benzene, cadmium, lead, formaldehyde, chlorine and mercury — all considered developmental or reproductive toxic compounds.
Yale researchers said 781 chemicals involved in fracking need to be analyzed to find out if they cause more health threats to humans. This is concerning, given that non-conventional hydraulic fracturing has been in practice for the last few years in the U.S. (2)
This is just the latest example of how the U.S. allows toxic chemicals on the market before they’re adequately tested for long-term impact on human health. We see this, unfortunately, frequently in synthetic scents, chemicals in the food system and other personal care products. Let’s explore the main dangers of fracking in more detail.
Dangers of Fracking: Hormonal Chaos
There are several studies that suggest fracking chemicals impact fertility and other hormonally regulated functions of the body. This includes trouble getting pregnant. An animal study published in the journal Endocrinology found prenatal exposure to chemicals in hydraulic fracturing could lead to trouble getting pregnant. Even more troubling is the fact that these hormone-disrupting chemicals have been detected in ground and surface water.
In the study, scientists looked at 23 common fracking chemicals, investigating how they influence hormones. The findings may not be that surprising, given that the dangers of fracking include exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals.
These chemicals can block or mimic the body’s hormones. And it’s important to note that hormones go beyond pregnancy. They also serve as messengers that regulate breathing, metabolism and other biological function. And get this: 1,300+ studies show connections between hormone-disrupting chemicals and serious health conditions such as infertility, diabetes, obesity, hormone-related cancers and neurological disorders, according to the Endocrine Society’s 2015 Scientific Statement.
In the study, animals exposed to even lower levels of fracking chemicals than people deal with in the real world suffered negative health impacts.
In this specific study, animals exposed to fracking chemicals suffered abnormal prolactin, follicle stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormones compared to fracking chemical-free lab animals. These are hormones related to becoming pregnancy. (3)
Other chemicals associated with fracking are linked to a higher risk of miscarriage, premature birth and birth defects.
Unhealthy Birth Weight & Heart Abnormalities
The same study above investigating pregnancy problems also found that offspring suffered. Offspring of mother’s exposed to fracking chemicals went on to be more overweight as they aged and suffered abnormal thickening of the heart muscles. These things were not observed in the group not exposed to fracking chemicals. (4)
In late 2017, economists shared another study that should raise the alarm on fracking health effects (and negative economic effects of fracking, too). Princeton health economists looked over birth certificates of 1,000-plus infants born before and during the fracking boom in Pennsylvania between 2004 and 2013. The findings?
- Babies born within a kilometer of a fracking well faced a 25 percent higher risk of low birth weight (less than 5.5 pounds) compared to babies born three kilometers away.
- Babies born within a kilometer of fracking wells also experienced significantly worse scores on the standard infant health index.
- When the same mothers had babies before fracking, the children tended to be much healthier compared to their siblings born in the midst of the fracking outbreak.
- The study authors say chemicals or air pollution due to increased truck traffic and industrialization is likely to blame for the fracking-related health issues in children. (5, 6)
Asthma Attacks
Living with asthma? If your home is near a fracking gas well you’re 1.5 to 4 times liklier to suffer an asthma attack compared to people who don’t live near a well. The study, led by Johns Hopkins researchers and published in 2017 in JAMA Internal Medicine, is the latest in a series showing a much higher asthma attack risk near unconventional hydraulic fracturing wells. In the last 10 years alone, Pennsylvania became home to 9,000+ wells. (7)
The highest risk came during natural gas’ production phase, which can last several years, plaguing a community’s health. This and previous studies linked the attacks to everything from heightened stress, increased noise and pollution from huge rigs and traffic and common chemicals associated with fracking pollution.
“We are concerned with the growing number of studies that have observed health effects associated with this industry. We believe it is time to take a more cautious approach to well development with an eye on environmental and public health impacts.” — Brian S. Schwartz, MD, MS, professor at Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg School (8)
Radon — A Leading Cause of Lung Cancer
Overall, radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer (behind only smoking), killing more than 21,000 people in the U.S. annually. (9) And there’s evidence that the dangers of fracking could now include this lung cancer threat, as well.
Levels of radon, a known carcinogen, have been rising since 2004. That’s about the same time fracking starting gaining steal in Pennsylvania. Johns Hopkins researchers said radon levels in Pennsylvania homes could be cause for concern. This is in a state 42 percent of homes already register unsafe radon readings.
The study, published in Environmental Health Perspectives, found that major shifts in radon levels occurred near Marcellus shale drillings sites since 2004. Before that, these radon jumps were not noted, researchers said. So how is this cancer-causing, odorless, radioactive gas reaching homes more easily as a result of fracking?
“One plausible explanation for elevated radon levels in people’s homes is the development of thousands of unconventional natural gas wells in Pennsylvania over the past 10 years. These findings worry us.” — Johns Hopkins researcher team
The ideas is that the hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, now taking place in 18 states throughout the country is causing disruption that causes heavy metals and radioactive materials (like radium-226), to rise to the service. Radium-226 decays into radon. Radon is found not only in the soil, but natural gas, too. (10)
Dangers of Fracking: STDs
Strange but true. A 2018 study published in PLOS ONE found that areas in Ohio with fracking activity suffered higher rates of sexually transmitted infections compared to frack-free areas. The Yale study authors explain that many fracking operations bring in out-of-area workforces, mostly comprised of young men who live in work camps. “Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) can increase through sexual mixing patterns associated with labor migration,” the authors note.
Compared to counties with no shale gas activity, counties with high activity had 21 percent higher rates of chlamydia and 19 percent higher rates of gonorrhea. (11)
In fact, researchers are warning that life expectancy in the U.S. is lower than other high-income countries, and STDs are partly to blame. The U.S. has the highest incidence of AIDs compared to other high-income countries, with incidents of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis on the rise. (12)
Final Thoughts
- Unconventional hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is touted as “cleaner burning than coal,” although that isn’t the whole story. When you look at the entire practice of getting the gas out of the ground, processing it, shipping it and burning it, it’s actually just as polluting, or even more polluting, than coal. (13)
- Even researchers from other parts of the world are worried about the dangers of fracking. In fact, scientists from London voiced concern, saying “the health of the public should not be compromised simply for the economic benefits to the industry.” (14)
- Fracking causes volatile organic compounds, including carcinogens like benzene and ethyl-benzene, toxic compounds that impact the respiratory and neurological systems.
- Formaldehyde, another carcinogen, is also elevated around fracking communities. (Sunlight helps convert the methane to formaldehyde.)
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The United States’ surge in gas production has a steep price — and exploding trains aren’t even the half of it
By Tara Lohan
Published January 11, 2014 2:00PM (EST)
(AP/Ed Andrieski)
By now you’ve likely heard that the U.S. is expected to overtake Russia this year as the world’s biggest producer of oil and gas. The surge in production comes from a drilling boom enabled by using hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, along with, in many places, horizontal drilling. These technologies have made previously inaccessible pockets of oil and gas in shale formations profitable.
1. Exploding TrainsAnother day, another oil train accident, it seems. On the night of January 7, a traincarrying crude oil and propane derailed near Plaster Rock in New Brunswick, Canada. A day later the fire continued as locals evacuated, unsure if they were being exposed to toxic fumes.It’s a familiar story. 2013 went out with a bang in North Dakota when a train carrying crude oil from the Bakken shale derailed and exploded on Dec 30. The ensuing fireballs and toxic smoke caused the evacuation many of Casselton’s 2,300 residents.Fracking has unleashed a firestorm of drilling in the Bakken (a rock formation under parts of North Dakota, Montana and Saskatchewan). The Casselton accident was the third rail accident in six months in North America involving oil trains from the Bakken (it’s unclear if the Plaster Rock train was carrying Bakken oil). The most horrific was the July derailment and explosion of a train that killed 47 people in the small town of Lac-Megantic in Quebec. The second occurred in Alabama in November.All of this has grabbed the attention of the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. “Crude oil produced in North America’s booming Bakken region may be more flammable and therefore more dangerous to ship by rail than crude from other areas, a U.S. regulator said after studying the question for four months,” wrote Angela Greiling Keane and Mark Drajem for Bloomberg.That doesn’t mean shipments will stop, only that trains may be relabeled to say they are carrying a more hazardous cargo.
As Gordon Hoekstra wrote for the Vancouver Sun:
The significant increase in the transport of oil by rail, and the growing evidence that Bakken shale oil is proving itself to be a very explosive commodity, shows that regulations on both sides of the border are not adequate, said Mark Winfield, an associate professor at York University who researches public safety regulation.
Even Robert Harms, who heads North Dakota’s Republican party and consults with the industry, has called for a slowdown, according to Reuters.
2. Workers at Risk
Those who live along train routes aren’t the only ones facing safety risks from the oil and gas industry. NPR reports that accidents among workers in the industry are on the rise—bigtime. From 2009 to 2012 the industry added 23 percent more workers but “the hiring spree has come with a terrible price: Last year, 138 workers were killed on the job — an increase of more than 100 percent since 2009,” wrote Andrew Schneider and Marilyn Geewax for NPR. “In fact, the fatality rate among oil and gas workers is now nearly eight times higher than the all-industry rate of 3.2 deaths for every 100,000 workers.”
Last July, I visited a well pad in New Milton, West Virginia. The following day there was an explosion at the site injuring several workers, two of whom died from their injuries. In my time in West Virginia I met several workers on other sites who were bleary-eyed from long hours on the job.
Sure, jobs are good, but safe jobs should be a priority. Accidents happen in a dangerous industry, but they also increase when workers are kept on the job for too many hours or lack proper training or industry doesn’t follow safe practices.
3. The Accidents You Don’t Hear About
Trains bursting into flames usually (and rightfully) makes the national headlines—especially when fatalities occur. But smaller accidents happen daily that often fail to make it beyond local reporting, if that. Those who live in communities adjacent to the oilfields and gaslands keep their own tallies.
In Tyler County, West Virginia on January 2 an incident occurred on the Lisby natural gas well pad. The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection press release said, “A tank ruptured and leaked fluids to surrounding grounds on the well site.”
“Ruptured and leaked” may be accurate, but more than an understatement. A tank filled with fracking fluid (although the WVDEP hasn’t been able to say for sure what exactly was in it) ignited and ended up across the well pad. “What we’ve been able to determine is that a tank ruptured during the flushing of frac lines,” said Thomas Aluise, spokesperson for the WVDEP. “Vapors formed from the fluids inside the tank and were somehow ignited, possibly by static electricity, but that has not been confirmed. As a result of the ignition and subsequent rupture, the tank was dislodged from its foundation.”
Does this photo look like the tank simply “dislodged?”
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The tank held 50 barrels of fluid, some of which has leaked into soil, a neighboring property, and potentially into a nearby stream. The explosion happened 625 feet from the nearest house and one person at the site, a contractor who broke his ankle, was injured in the incident. The company, Jay-Bee Oil & Gas, is required to submit plans for soil and water sampling by January 14, which seems like quite a while to wait to take samples if chemicals are leaking into the ground or water sources.
Jay-Bee does not have a glowing corporate record. “The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection has cited the company for 21 environmental violations since 2010, and the federal Occupation Safety and Health Administration has cited the company for 38 worker safety violations, “ wrote Gayathri Vaidyanathan for E&E. “The incident suggests that environmental and worker safety violations often go hand in hand.”
How many environmental and safety violations does it take before a company is shut down?
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By Bobby Magill
More than 1,500 barrels of crude oil per day gushed from the “Jake” oil well when EOG Resources drilled and fracked the well into the Niobrara shale in northern Colorado in the fall of 2009. That gusher marked the beginning of one of the biggest oil booms in the state’s history, part of a larger shale oil rush playing out in Colorado, Texas, North Dakota and elsewhere today making the U.S. the world’s leader in oil production this year.
Those booming shale oil and gas plays are all successful because of advances in fracking and horizontal drilling technology and the speed with which companies are drilling new wells. In some regions, the booms are playing out near homes and schools in suburban areas, particularly in Colorado, where they contribute to widespread concern about climate change-driving methane leaks, air pollution, groundwater contamination and the industrialization of residential areas.
Oil and gas drilling in the Eagle Ford shale region of South Texas.
Credit: Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute, University of Texas-San Antonio
Scientists studying oil and gas well production data are beginning to question how long the boom will last, however, suggesting that a shale oil and gas bust may come sooner than expected, even as the industry insists that the boom has been and will continue to be a success.
British Columbia-based geoscientist David Hughes, whose research was presented at the Geological Society of America meeting this week in Denver, says the story hidden in oil well production numbers is that oil and gas production from fracking could peak in some places as soon as 2016.
Soon after the Jake well was drilled, the amount of oil it produced declined sharply. In just a few months in 2009, the well produced 48,373 barrels of oil, Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission data show. By 2012, the Jake well’s annual production totaled 22,300 barrels. So far in 2013, the gusher has eeked out only about 6,000 barrels.
It’s the same picture in oil wells throughout the Niobrara shale, where oil production declines more than 65 percent in a new well’s first year of production, Hughes said.
In the Bakken shale of North Dakota, an oil play slated to tie into the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline, production declines 44 percent in the first year across the entire oil field. Production in the Eagle Ford shale south of San Antonio, Texas, declines 34 percent in the first year, according to Hughes’ data.
Production in the Haynesville oil and gas field in Texas and Louisiana peaked after just 5 years, he said.
And as Hughes noted, the more production drops off in individual oil wells, the more wells companies have to drill and frack to make up the difference.
One of the reasons for that is the geology of “tight” oil, which is found in low-permeability rock deep underground that has to be pulverized with hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” to release the oil and natural gas it harbors. The amount of oil each fracked well can can access is fairly small because the rock is so impermeable, Hughes said.
“We get a big flush of initial production, and that’s over once you drain the small area adjacent to those fractures,” he said. “In order to maintain production, you have to keep drilling to offset that wicked decline.”
In his analysis, Hughes used oil well production data from Austin, Texas-based firm Drillinginfo, which provides detailed production information to the oil and gas industry.
Hughes’ research contradicts Citigroup’s and University of Texas-San Antonio’s long-term shale oil production projections that suggest tight oil production will continue to rise both in Texas and throughout the country in the coming decades.
“It’s not the case if you look at the physics of the situation,” he said.
Hughes presented his findings alongside Charles A.S. Hall, professor emeritus at the College of Environmental Science and Forestry at the State University of New York, Syracuse, who studies the energy return on investment of oil fields.
“Because these wells fall off so quickly, you’re on a drilling treadmill,” Hall said Thursday. “This surge in production from Bakken and Eagle Ford is real, but the concept that this is going to continue to increase and that the U.S. will become a net oil exporter doesn’t seem in any way possible to me or to David (Hughes).”
Shale oil and gas fields in the U.S.
Credit: U.S. Energy Information Administration
And once the “sweet spots” for oil production are drilled out and begin to decline, then what?
“My whole message in my talk was, let’s get real in terms of the longevity and sustainability of this,” Hughes said. “It has been a game-changer. It has ramped up U.S. oil production, which was in terminal decline in 2008, but it’s not a long-term solution.”
Arthur E. Berman, a geological consultant for Labrynth Consulting Services in Sugar Land, Texas, who was scheduled to present with Hughes and Hall, said that the 10-year history of shale gas extraction is a “commercial failure” so far, but increasing oil prices will eventually meet the cost of production.
Critics dismiss the scientists’ conclusions as baseless.
“Hall, Hughes and Berman have no credibility in my mind in their analysis of shale development. They are thinly veiled advocates for the position that shale development has been a failure,” said Will Fleckenstein, a petroleum engineering professor at the Colorado School of Mines, pointing to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) as a more comprehensive and credible source for oil production forecasts.
Fleckenstein said the shale boom’s long-term success is underscored by a University of Texas-San Antonio economic study showing that oil production in the Eagle Ford shale in south Texas will increase continuously through 2022, supporting 127,000 jobs and produce an economic impact of $89 billion that year.
The American Petroleum Institute, the oil industry’s chief lobbying and trade group, did not respond to requests for comment.
EIA projections show oil production in the Eagle Ford and Bakken shale peaking in 2021 and beginning a long, slow decline through 2040, according to the EIA’s 2013 Annual Energy Outlook report.
Though it’s true that oil production in fracked wells declines very quickly, any production peak in any of these tight oil fields would be market-driven, not driven by geology, said EIA analyst John Staub.
“To fully drill-out the Bakken, for example, (total wells would be) in the 40,000 range,” he said. “They’re drilling 1,800 wells a year now. There’s a long ways away to fully drilling that out. David’s (Hughes) come in and talked with us. Yes, the wells decline quickly, but there are a lot of opportunities to drill wells.”
But for Hall and Hughes, the question is what happens if many of those 40,000 wells are drilled outside the sweet spots and production declines faster than expected.
“Yes, these (shale oil booms) are a temporary bonanza, but now, I don’t think it’s wise to build a long-term energy strategy assuming that production is going to go up and stay up there for long periods of time,” Hughes said. “It’s just the nature of the beast.”
Editor’s note: Berman did not present his findings at the GSA in Denver last week, but his presentation was included on the GSA website. Also, the Haynesville shale is an oil and gas field.
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Report: Half of U.S. Fracking Wells Drilled in Highly Water-stressed Regions
Energy companies should provide better data on fracking water use, and investors should push for quantifiable water targets, according to a sustainable investing advocacy group.
By Brett Walton
Circle of Blue
Not even six years old, the energy boom in the United States has roiled rural towns and revived the country’s economic prospects. It has also shaken up long-established patterns of resource use, chiefly for water, thus adding a new source of demand in some of the country’s driest regions.
A report released last week maps the relationship between water stress and the unconventional oil and gas reserves that have pushed the boom, while outlining actions energy companies can take to improve resource management.
Nearly half of the wells drilled in the U.S. in recent years, 47 percent, are located in river basins with high or extremely high risk of water stress, according to the report from Ceres, a nonprofit that works with investors, businesses and credit rating agencies to identify environmental risks in business models.
Drilling rigs, America’s newest crop, have sprouted above shale formations across the country. They drill deep wells with horizontal shafts and then shoot jets of water, sand, and chemicals underground to crack open the stores of oil and gas trapped thousands of feet below. Called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, this technique, along with horizontal drilling, has put the U.S. on a path toward being a net exporter of natural gas and the world’s top oil producer, briefly, by the end of the decade.
The path, however, has hazards. Water risks, the Ceres report found, are particularly acute in Colorado, where 92 percent of wells have been drilled in areas of extremely high water stress.
In terms of quantity, Texas used the most water for fracking, more than three times as much as Pennsylvania, the second largest user.
As domestic energy development has mushroomed, water concerns have shifted from quality to quantity, said Monika Freyman, the report’s lead author.
“Investors at first were interested in water contamination and a lack of disclosure about the chemicals used, which might have affected a company’s social license to operate,” Freyman told Circle of Blue. “As the drought continues, more investors are asking how companies can increase the number of wells in arid areas.”
“This is not just about sustainability,” said Paul Bugala, an extractive industries analyst for Calvert Investments. “It’s about project viability.”
Mapping the Problem
To understand fracking’s relationship with water stress, Freyman and co-author Ryan Salmon looked at two data sets. They gathered information on well location and water volumes used in fracking from the website FracFocus.org, a data clearinghouse run by the Groundwater Protection Council and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission.
Ceres plotted more than 25,000 shale gas and shale oil wells – nearly half of which were in Texas – that were registered with FracFocus between January 2011 and September 2012. Water used to frack these wells amounted to 246 million cubic meters (200,000 acre-feet), or enough water for the domestic needs of a city of 2.5 million people using 266 liters (70 gallons) per day. Because data submitted to the clearinghouse is voluntary, the reported figures are not comprehensive. Water sources, be they salty, fresh or recycled, are not disclosed either.
The FracFocus data was then laid on top of the water-risk maps developed by the World Resources Institute. A basin with “extremely high” water stress means that more than 80 percent of the available water is already claimed by cities, farmers, or industry.
Lifting the Data Curtain
For Ceres, open data is paramount for better resource and business management.
“Disclosure is the foundation,” said Mindy Lubber, Ceres president, at the organization’s annual conference in San Francisco on May 2. “You cannot connect the dots without this vital piece – information.”
Michael Webber, who studies the connections between water use and energy development at the University of Texas, preached the same message in testimony before a U.S. Senate committee a week earlier. FracFocus, though voluntary and imperfect, is the foremost central database for fracking’s water use. Webber told the committee members that the federal government, either the Energy Information Administration or the U.S. Geological Survey, should track this information.
Disclosure is welcomed, but regulators should use this information to create standards that are regionally specific, says Andrew Place.
Place works on energy and environmental policy for EQT, an energy company producing in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus shale formation, and he is the interim director of the Center for Sustainable Shale Development, a collaboration between industry and environmental groups that laid out voluntary performance standards in March for shale drilling in the Appalachian region.
Because the volume of water in rivers changes throughout the year, withdrawals during low flows might cause greater harm than during peak flows, Place said.
And certain locations see more demand from energy companies. In Johnson County, Texas, some 29 percent of water use in 2008 was for fracking. In the Eagle Ford shale formation in southern Texas, a young shale play, fracking, at its crest year, will account for between 5.2 percent and 89 percent of water use in six counties in the next decade, according to a University of Texas study.
So the challenge is to identify “a water risk for a specific time and place,” Place told Circle of Blue.
Money Talks
Investors – at least the group of 100 allied with the Ceres philosophy – crave better information. Paul Bugala of Calvert Investments, a member of the Ceres investor network, said that Calvert wants to see baseline information on water quality and water quantity before a fracking operation begins.
In April, Calvert filed a resolution with Pioneer Natural Resources, an energy company drilling mainly in Texas, through the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to encourage better disclosure of environmental risks, including water use. Calvert holds shares in Pioneer.
“Sometimes it takes investor pressure to get through to company management, so it is important for investors to speak up,” Bugala told Circle of Blue.
Southeastern Asset Management, which is not in the Ceres investor network and is one of the largest shareholders in Chesapeake Energy, a top producer of natural gas in the U.S., declined to comment on the report.
Some industry groups do not see a problem with fracking’s water use. When asked via email if he thought the current regulatory, water-use reporting, and water acquisition structures in his state were adequate, Doug Flanders, spokesman for the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, wrote simply, “Yes.”
Flanders pointed out that Colorado – a high water-risk state according to the Ceres report – requires oil and gas companies to submit a detailed water-use report and that all water must be obtained by purchasing or leasing existing water rights, municipal effluent, or groundwater.
The water risk report is one piece of a broader Ceres project on fracking. Freyman said that later this summer the organization will release a report that compares water disclosure policies for companies involved in fracking and outlines the states where new fracking regulations are expected.
The goal of all this is to find how water fits in America’s new energy economy.
“Industry is able to outbid farmers for water, which is fine,” Freyman said. “But there is a need for management with local interests. We need a conversation about how society values water – the costs and the benefits and how to sell it and allocate it.”
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Hydraulic Fracturing and its Impact on Water Resources
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a multistep extraction process in which fossil fuel-bearing rock formations are drilled and fractured using huge amounts of water. Oil and gas reserves that were at one time considered inaccessible are now available to be exploited. While the fracking process has expanded oil and gas development, it has also expanded risks to water resources.
The Explosion in US Shale-Oil and Shale-Gas Production
The United States is home to vast quantities of shale-oil and shale-gas, with estimates of natural gas reserves among the largest known in the world. New technologies in petroleum exploration and extraction – most notably the process of hydraulic fracturing (aka “fracking”) – have unlocked unconventional oil and gas stored in impermeable shale-rock formations deep underground, making previously inaccessible deposits easier to reach. US oil and gas production was flagging before the so-called Shale Revolution took hold and spurred the country on to become the world’s top producer of crude oil and the overall leading producer for hydrocarbons (oil and natural gas).
Fracking also shook up US electricity generation. Natural gas surpassed coal and is the country’s largest fuel-source at nearly 32 percent. Often referred to as the “bridge fuel,” natural gas – at least according to the oil and gas industry – will aid in the country’s energy transition from coal to renewable sources like wind and solar. Natural gas use and production has soared in recent years, but so too has the controversy surrounding the environmental, public health and social impacts of how the fuel is obtained.
What is Hydraulic Fracturing, aka Fracking?
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, describes a multi-step oil and natural gas extraction process, in which the fossil fuel-bearing rock formations are directionally drilled both vertically and horizontally. Once the well is drilled, a charge is detonated to blast fissures open, then a proprietary mix of water, chemicals and proppants (like sand, these are designed to keep the fissure open) are injected into underground rock layers at high pressure in order to further fracture the rock. Once the production well is fully open, some “produced” wastewater flows back to the surface, and finally, the oil and natural gas is extracted.
Vital to the fracking process are the millions of gallons of fracking fluid for each well, a fluid made up of over 90 percent water. While each company’s formula is a closely guarded secret, a review of the recognized 1,021 chemicals in these various proprietary mixes are known to include surfactants, biocides and even toxic substances like volatile organic compounds and carcinogens. As fracking has become more widespread in the 22 oil and gas shale plays throughout the United States, the proximity to major population centers has raised significant public health concerns as evidenced by conflict over development in the Marcellus Shale in the Northeastern United States. Of primary concern is the potentially damaging impact on water resources. Members of the public, some state and federal regulators and the environmental community have kept a close watch on the fracking process.
The Water Footprint of Fracking
Concern about the impact of fracking’s significant water use on local water resources, especially in dry lands, as well the potential for water pollution has led to a number of studies. Two recent studies from Duke University assessed the water footprint of the full life cycle (of each step) of the fracking process. The first study evaluated the median water use of six basins for shale-gas and shale oil and found that shale-gas water use ranged from 390,000 to 6.27 million gallons per well, while shale-oil use ranged from 70,000 to 2 million gallons of water per well.
Likewise, the second study reviewed six basins and charted the intensification of fracking’s water footprint, and found huge increases in both water use and wastewater in the years spanning 2011 to 2016. In that time, researchers found that water use per well rose by up to 770 percent while wastewater (flowback and produced water) volumes increased by a high of 1,440 percent within one year one of production.
Fracking Wastewater and Pathways to Pollution
There are many pathways to pollution from fracking. After the well is fracked and starts producing oil and gas, much of the fracking fluid remains underground where it could potentially contaminate groundwater if fractures connect to aquifer systems. There is some evidence that shallow aquifers have been polluted by methane either due to poorly constructed production wells, “communication” between production wells and drinking water wells, or both.
After the fracturing process, a percentage of the water returns fairly quickly to the surface as wastewater, also called “flowback.” The briny water that has long been underground and comes up during continued operation of the well, called “produced water,” can contain naturally occurring contaminants like the radioactive element radium, along with other heavy metals and salts. All of this wastewater is toxic and must be collected and stored; it then must be treated or discharged – or reinjected into a deep disposal well.
The wastewater is often pumped into holding ponds where it can leak and settle into surrounding groundwater, and impact wildlife. The contamination of groundwater is of major concern for those who live near drilling operations and rely on drinking water wells. And the contamination of watersheds that provide drinking water for millions of people in cities hundreds of miles away from any natural gas drilling sites poses a significant threat as well.
The US EPA’s “Assessment of the Potential Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing for Oil and Gas on Drinking Water Resources” is the most comprehensive study to date on fracking. While the EPA claimed that fracking does not necessarily lead to “widespread, systemic” drinking water pollution, they did for the first time confirm that groundwater has been polluted at points along the fracking “water cycle.” The report also includes a major caveat that “[t]here is a high degree of uncertainty about whether the relatively few instances of impacts noted in this report are the result of a rarity of effects or a lack of data.”
Federal and state responses to the threats to water resources posed by fracking have been mixed at best. At the federal level, regulation is insufficient due to certain explicit exemptions from the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and the Clean Water Act granted by the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
The role that fracking will play in the United States’ energy future is quickly evolving. The nation is shifting towards increased oil and gas production and state governments are playing regulatory catch-up with the drilling technology’s rapid expansion to meet this burgeoning demand and export. As states debate how best to protect air and water resources from any potential fracking side effects, governments at all levels, scientists, public health experts, environmentalists and affected communities are engaged in the proper scope of research and oversight.
Read more about the water footprint of energy.
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US EIA projects oil, gas production growth in 2025 amid stalling rigs
LNG, Natural Gas
February 11, 2025 / By Jeremy Beaman
US exploration and production companies kept drilling activity flat in January, according to the US Energy Information Administration, a cadence that is generally expected to continue in the months ahead before rig counts set off on a decline as oil producers face down lackluster crude prices and natural gas-weighted operators await a sustained call for additional supply.
Across the five largest Lower 48 unconventional plays, rigs counts in January stayed within one to two units of their December 2024 totals, with Appalachian rigs remaining unchanged on the month at 34, EIA’s latest Drilling Productivity Report released Feb. 11 showed.
In the Permian Basin, which accounts for nearly three-quarters of the Lower 48 rigs in EIA’s tally, producers operated 303 rigs in January. The Eagle Ford Shale fell two to 49, while Appalachia and the Haynesville Shale at 31 rigs remained at multi-year lows.
Crude, gas outlook
A number of analysts and industry players were projecting flat to declining rig activity in 2025 considering where crude futures have been.
“With most budgets set in late 2024 at $70/barrel WTI, operators will maintain rig counts near those in late 2024,” S&P Global Commodity Insights’ upstream analysts said in a Feb. 10 oil supply outlook. “However, oil-directed drilling activity will decline in the second half of 2025 as lower oil prices, particularly for 2026, begin to materialize in the forward curve.“
Among the E&Ps reporting capital budgets so far, Chevron intends to cut spending in the Permian, planning to grow production there in 2025 but at a slower pace. During a Jan. 31 earnings call, CEO Mike Wirth said year-on-year growth in the Permian likely moderates from 18% in 2023 to 9%-10% in 2025 and “something a bit less than that” in 2026.
Executives at Appalachian gas producer CNX Resources said the company plans to boost the number of wells it turns to sales in 2025 to maintain roughly flat production, but that the gas market is not ready for meaningful supply growth just yet.
“We need to wait and see kind of where the industry production levels are coming out of winter,” as well as where US gas storage levels end up at the end of the season, Chief Financial Officer Alan Shepard told analysts during CNX’s quarterly call.
Some Haynesville operators communicated a similar message earlier in the year.
Production
US oil and gas production are forecast to grow despite the more conservative capital plans as operators continued to stack up and tout efficiency gains. In the first quarter, the EIA projects dry gas production of 103.7 Bcf/d on average, and volumes are expected to rise over consecutive quarters to nearly 106 Bcf/d on average in the fourth quarter of 2024, according to the agency’s Short-Term Energy Outlook updated on Feb. 11.
The projections would align with the incremental increase in LNG feedgas demand expected throughout 2025, a function of ramping up production at Venture Global’s Plaquemines LNG and Cheniere Energy’s Corpus Christi Stage 3 export project. Total LNG feedgas is expected to rise 21% in 2025 compared with 2024’s average 13.2 Bcf/d, according to Commodity Insights forecasts.
The EIA noted risks in the year ahead to gas market fundamentals such as winter weather, as well as the timing and volume of LNG production from new facilities. As for tariffs, the agency said it expects that China’s retributive tariffs on US LNG would have a limited effect on exports.
“With ample demand for LNG globally, we expect that any LNG not purchased by China would be imported elsewhere,” the EIA said in its outlook.
With regard to oil, the EIA said President Donald Trump’s tariff actions are among the factors contributing to significant uncertainty about its price forecasts, which project WTI at $70.65/b for the year.
“Although the future imposition of tariffs could affect oil trade routes, we do not presently anticipate the tariffs put forward in the February 1 executive order would significantly affect global oil supply,” the EIA’s outlook said. “Still, the possibility of future tariffs and the new sanctions on Russia are sources of uncertainty for oil prices going forward.“
Lower 48 onshore crude production is forecast to grow from 11.15 million b/d in the first quarter to 11.5 million b/d on average during the fourth quarter of 2025, led by the Permian. EIA expects oil production in the basin to increase 6% to 6.78 million b/d over the same period.
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Residents try to figure out cause
CLINTONVILLE, Wis. – Bemused curiosity is turning into worry and aggravation for families in a small Wisconsin town longing for peace and quiet after three nights of mysterious booming noises that have sent some residents into the streets — sometimes still in their pajamas.
The strange disturbance sounds like distant thunder, fireworks or someone slamming a heavy door. At first, many people were amused. But after a third restless night Tuesday into Wednesday, exasperation is mounting. And some folks are considering leaving town until investigators determine the source of the racket.
“My husband thought it was cool, but I don’t think so. This is not a joke,” said Jolene Van Beek, who awoke early Sunday to a loud boom that shook her house. “I don’t know what it is, but I just want it to stop.”
The booming in Clintonville continued Monday and Tuesday nights and into Wednesday morning, eventually prompting Van Beek to take her three sons to her father’s home, 10 minutes away, so they could get some uninterrupted sleep.
There have been no reports of injury, despite some residents saying they could feel the ground roll beneath their feet.
City officials say they have investigated every possible human cause. They checked water, sewer and gas lines, contacted the military about any exercises in the area, reviewed permits for mining explosives and inspected a dam next to City Hall. They even tested methane levels at the landfill in case the gas was spontaneously exploding.
“People in the area are certainly frustrated,” City Administrator Lisa Kuss said.
The city is also investigating geological causes. Officials plan to bring in vibration-detection devices to try to determine the epicenter of any underground activity.
Authorities set up audio and video equipment overnight but didn’t capture any evidence of shaking or booming despite at least one loud noise about 5 a.m. Wednesday, Kuss said.
About 300 people attended a public meeting Wednesday night in a local high school auditorium to get an update on the situation. Kuss assured residents that officials are doing everything they can to determine the source of the booming.
“This is an issue,” she said, demanding answers from officials at the meeting. “There is something else going on.”
Kuss urged Binger to write down when the cracks occurred and promised to send officials to the woman’s home to look over the damage.
Debby Ernst has not heard the sound or felt the tremors but said she is still considering going elsewhere until the mystery is solved.
“It worries me. I’m scared,” Ernst, a gas station cashier, said in a phone interview. “Who’s to say it ain’t going to get worse?”
However, a local scientist said nothing has surfaced that suggests townspeople should be afraid.
Steve Dutch, a geologist at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, said the ground beneath them is solid, and that there are no known earthquake fault lines in the area.
However, he speculated that water and granite could hold the key to the mystery. Granite has small cracks that water can fill, but if the underground water table falls especially low, water can seep out, leaving gaps that cause the rocks to settle and generate loud noises.
“Maybe the very dry winter caused more water to be removed from the water table, either through pumping or natural flow,” he said.
A seismic station near Clintonville, a town of about 4,600 people about 40 miles west of Green Bay, has recorded unusual ground shaking since Sunday night. Scientists say such activity can be caused by mining and heavy truck traffic, but since there are no mines or major construction in the area, the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey will take a closer look at the data.
Some residents are having fun with the mystery, which has drawn media attention from around the nation.
Jordan Pfeiler said people stayed up late on the first two nights to walk around listening for booms. They came up with outlandish theories to explain the noise — for example, that the White House was building an underground bunker in the area or that mole men had found a home there.
“And the aliens, of course, there’s always the aliens,” she said.
Van Beek understands the temptation to crack jokes, but it’s no laughing matter to her.
“Everything people think it is has been ruled out. They just don’t have answers,” she said. “At this point all I want is for it to stop.”
I received this mail from one of our community members.
And I started searching for more information!
“Ask Jesse Ventura, he’s already exposed the “Oz Ark” survival city that’s being built in the caverns and the miles and miles of tunnels being constructed and access points being sealed off from the public, along with a humongous blast-proof command post. Check the significance of the allegories to the characters in “The Wizard of OZ” as they relate to the religion of Kabbalah, mix in a bit of the known use of anagrams and the “restricted” language of Esperanto and you’ll learn that there has been stuff happening underground for a long, long time in that region. Kansas actually means K (kabbalah) SANAS which means “secret” in Esperanto and Arkansas means something similar with a salute to Ra himself. The entire Ozark mountain range was named as the result of discovering the connected caverns that could serve as an “ark” to survive the Apocalypse as described in the book of Revelation and is only one of a number of similar “arks” scattered throughout the world that could equally act as central command.
I wouldn’t doubt it if they’ve completed a huge underground transit system that extends as far as Texas or even an entire network across the country considering the availability of nuclear powered tunnelers that actually melt the bedrock to reinforce the walls as it “digs” up to 5 miles in a single day. I neglected to mention that the tunneler diameter is large enough to fit two sets of train tracks and is operated by none other than the USAF.
All stuff that’s already been made public thanks to some very brave investigators, except for the naming of the states, I figured that out myself along with a few other things when the anagram//Esperanto combos are combined in some names… Leviticus is actually a spell that means “Evil Citus” where citus means ‘to call forth, put into motion”… the entire book (Leviticus) reads like witchcraft when you open your eyes and ears… no wonder everyone has rejected most of it… it’s written to attempt to control the markets and give excuse to colonize because of the ‘unclean’ things people were eating and doing… apparently the ones who wrote it wanted to keep the good stuff for themselves and halt evolution for everyone else. START GROWING FOOD!!!”
After reading this mail, I searched on google and found on Info Wars that the US Air Force was planning to build a huge network of underground subway tunnels in order to shuttle around nuclear missiles. This project requires a vast underground subway-like network of pathways to shuttle new missiles around to multiple launch portals. Launch portals would be stationed at regular intervals along the subway, allowing the unmanned transporters to be raised up and the missile to be fired in a “doomsday scenario”. Each tunnel would be dedicated to one single missile and launch system. The mobile silo system would have to be capable of withstanding ground shock levels and to permit adequate ‘rattle space’ in the event of an enemy attack. Multiple study contracts should be awarded already next month by the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center — each worth as much as $3 million — to expand the ground-based ICBM fleet from 2025 to 2075. So this network of underground subway tunnel has to be very deep to be protected!
Have they actually already started to build this network? Or Are they trying to connect already existing Deep Underground Military Bases together? This drilling could indeed produce small earthquakes, earthquake booms and distabilize the ground to create sinkholes.
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| Original taken from the article. | Copy edited to lighten it so you can read it. |
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You indeed probably know that in the USA, you have approximately around 100 Deep Underground Military Bases (DUMPS) situated under most major cities, US AFBs, US Navy Bases and US Army Bases, as well as underneath FEMA Military Training Camps and DHS control centers (Look here at a list of almost all Deep Underground Military Bases (DUMBs) in the US.). Almost all of these bases are over 2 miles underground and have diameters ranging from 10 miles up to 30 miles across! These bases are basically large cities underground connected by high-speed magneto-levity trains.
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DUMB… DEEP UNDERGROUND MILITARY BASE FOR 2012
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Several books have been written on Deep Underground Military Bases (DUMPS). Richard Souder, a Ph.D. architect, risked his life by talking about this. He is the author of the book, ‘UNDERGROUND BASES & TUNNELS: What is the Government Trying to Hide?. Book about underwater and underground bases and tunnels in us!
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He (Dr.Sauder) worked with a number of government agencies on deep underground military bases. US Military have nuclear powered laser drilling machines that can drill a tunnel seven miles long in one day, i.e. ‘The Subterrene,’ the Los Alamos nuclear-powered tunnel machine that burrows through the rock, deep underground, by heating whatever stone it encounters into molten rock.
The best known DUMBS are:
– Underneath Denver International Airport, which is over 22 miles in diameter and goes down over 8 levels. It’s no coincidence that the CIA relocated the headquarters of its domestic division, which is responsible for operations in the United States, from the CIA’s Langley headquarters to Denver.
– Dulce Base, in New Mexico. Dulce is a small town in northern New Mexico, located above 7,000 feet on the Jicarilla Apache Indian Reservation. But Dulce has a deep, dark secret. The secret is harbored deep below the brush of Archuleta Mesa. Function: Research of mind related functions, genetic experiments, mind control training and reprograming.
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Underground Noises Spark Fears of Secret US Facilities!
Strange Noises Across America: A Mysterious Phenomenon
In recent weeks, residents across various states in America have been reporting a series of strange, loud noises emanating from underground. These unusual sounds have sparked curiosity, concern, and speculation among locals, prompting many to take to social media to share their experiences. The mystery deepens as these reports coincide with the revelation that the United States has been secretly constructing numerous large underground complexes.
The Nature of the Noises
Reports of the strange noises have emerged from multiple locations, with residents describing them as loud, rumbling sounds that seem to come from below the Earth’s surface. Many have taken to platforms like Twitter to voice their concerns and share recordings of the noises, which has led to a growing online conversation about the possible causes.
In a recent viral tweet, a user known as Concerned Citizen highlighted these reports, stating, “All across America – Residents are reporting strange loud noises that originate underground.” This tweet, which has garnered significant attention, points to a broader phenomenon that residents are experiencing nationwide.
Underground Complexes: The Secretive Construction
The speculation surrounding the noises has led to discussions about the underground facilities that the U.S. government has reportedly been building. While details about these complexes remain largely classified, various sources suggest that they are designed for a range of purposes, including military operations, emergency preparedness, and research.
The timing of the underground noises raises questions about whether these construction projects are related to the sounds being reported by residents. Some conspiracy theorists suggest that the noises could be a byproduct of these subterranean activities, leading to increased interest in the government’s underground initiatives.
Possible Explanations
While the exact cause of the noises remains undetermined, there are several plausible explanations that could account for what residents are hearing:
- Construction Activities: With numerous underground facilities being built, construction activities could be responsible for the sounds. Heavy machinery, drilling, and the movement of materials can produce loud noises that resonate underground.
- Geological Activity: Another explanation could be related to natural geological phenomena. Earthquakes, shifts in tectonic plates, or even gas releases from underground deposits can create sounds that might be perceived as strange or alarming.
- Environmental Factors: Changes in weather patterns, such as temperature fluctuations or heavy rainfall, can affect the acoustics of the ground and amplify certain sounds. This could result in noises that residents might not typically notice.
- Military Exercises: The U.S. military conducts various training exercises that can involve underground operations. The sounds of these exercises could potentially reach nearby communities, leading to confusion and concern among residents.
Community Reactions and Concerns
The reports of strange underground noises have prompted a range of reactions from communities across the country. Some residents express fear and anxiety, wondering if the sounds are indicative of something more sinister. Others view the noises with skepticism, chalking them up to natural occurrences or simple construction noise.
Many people have taken to social media to share their experiences and seek answers. The hashtag #UndergroundNoises has gained traction, with users sharing their stories, theories, and even videos of the sounds. This online discourse has created a sense of community among those affected, as they seek to understand the phenomenon together.
The Role of Social Media in Spreading Awareness
Social media has played a crucial role in disseminating information about the strange noises. Platforms like Twitter and Facebook allow individuals to share their experiences quickly, raising awareness and encouraging others to contribute their stories. This rapid sharing of information has created a sense of urgency around the topic, prompting discussions that extend beyond local communities.
The viral nature of the original tweet from Concerned Citizen demonstrates how quickly information can spread, capturing the attention of people nationwide. As more residents report similar experiences, the conversation continues to grow, leading to increased scrutiny of the government’s activities and the potential implications for public safety.
Looking Ahead: Investigating the Phenomenon
As the reports of strange underground noises continue to emerge, it may prompt further investigation by local authorities, scientists, and researchers. Understanding the source of these sounds is essential not only for addressing community concerns but also for ensuring public safety.
In the coming weeks and months, it will be important to closely monitor developments related to the underground noises. Residents, researchers, and officials will need to collaborate to gather data, analyze the situation, and determine the cause of the phenomenon.
Conclusion
The strange, loud noises reported by residents across America have captured the attention of both local communities and the broader public. As speculation swirls regarding the link between these noises and the government’s secretive construction of underground complexes, it is crucial to approach the situation with a sense of curiosity and caution.
With ongoing discussions on social media and a growing body of anecdotal evidence, the mystery of the underground noises continues to unfold. As more information becomes available, residents and authorities alike will seek to understand the implications of these sounds and what they may signify for the future. Whether a result of construction, geological activity, or something else entirely, the phenomenon serves as a reminder of the many mysteries that lie beneath our feet.
https://x.com/i/status/1918424325717115231
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Insights from Kentucky: A Case Study
One notable report comes from Kentucky, where residents have captured footage of the noises. Clips like this one [insert clip link] have further fueled the speculation that something significant is happening underground. The eerie sounds have led to questions about safety and transparency from local authorities. Are these constructions a safety measure, or is there something more concerning at play?
Play this TikTok video by clicking any one of the following links.
LINK 1: Unexplainable Noises Discovered Under Kentucky Fence | TikTok
LINK 2:Underground Noises in Kentucky: Government Secrets Unveiled | TikTok
LINK 3: Strange noises heard in Kentucky (Turn up volume) – YouTube
LINK 4: Mysterious Underground Noise in Kentucky Revealed | TikTok
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Theories Surrounding Underground Complexes
While the idea of underground complexes may sound like a plot from a sci-fi movie, there are legitimate reasons why such facilities exist. Historically, the U.S. has built underground bunkers for military and governmental purposes. These complexes are designed to protect important personnel and resources during emergencies, including nuclear threats.
But with the increasing reports of strange noises, the question arises: Are these facilities expanding? And if so, why the secrecy? Could there be more underground projects underway that the public is unaware of? These questions leave us pondering the balance between national security and public transparency.
The Impact on Communities
The mysterious noises have not only sparked curiosity but also concern among local communities. People are starting to feel uneasy in their own homes, wondering whether they are safe. Town hall meetings and community forums have become platforms for residents to discuss their experiences and seek answers from local officials. The sounds have become a topic of conversation, uniting neighbors as they seek to understand the situation together.
What Do Experts Say?
Experts in geology and acoustics have weighed in on the situation, with some suggesting that the sounds could be attributed to geological activity, while others believe they might be linked to human-engineered activities. There’s also the possibility of underground construction work, which can create a variety of noises as heavy machinery operates below the surface.
For instance, researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey have indicated that underground activities can produce sounds that travel through the earth. However, the sudden increase in reports suggests that there may be more than just isolated incidents at play.
Future Implications
The ongoing reports of strange noises have left many wondering about the future. If these underground complexes are indeed expanding, what does that mean for local communities? Will there be more transparency from the government? And how will this impact the relationship between citizens and their leaders?
As residents continue to report their experiences, it’s crucial for local and federal authorities to communicate openly with the public. Addressing the concerns and fears of communities can help foster trust and understanding, rather than suspicion and anxiety.
Category: Uncategorized
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The behavior of the ruling elite reminds me of a movie from 2002. As the elite seemed to be focused on creating q fully sustainable underground civilization while destroying life on earth they seem to be preparing for or perhaps creating a post-apocalyptic existence.
Naturally, if they are truly the progeny/bloodline of the demi-gods and the Fallen Angels, then it makes sense that they would be quite comfortable underground where those beings live.
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The Time Machine (2002) Full Movie HD
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Watch in HD, subtitles also available. Hey everyone, I decided to upload this as I found this scene to very interesting and the clips currently on Youtube are of low quality and out of date, so here’s the highest quality 2024 full HD version. In a thought-provoking scene in the movie Time Machine (2002), the Uber Morlock, the leader of the Morlocks, engages in a profound conversation with Alexander, challenging his preconceived notions and offering a different perspective on their society. Set in a dimly lit underground chamber, the Uber Morlock begins by describing the origins of their society. It reveals that their current state is the result of a natural evolution—a consequence of survival instincts and the need for sustenance and reproduction.
The Morlocks, who hunt the Eloi, are driven by the primal forces of nature that have shaped their existence.
Alexander, deeply disturbed by the Morlocks’ behavior, criticizes their actions, condemning them for treating the Eloi as mere sources of food and means of reproduction. He questions the morality and ethics of their society, believing it to be a perversion of natural law. However, the Uber Morlock counters Alexander’s critique by calling out his own hypocrisy. It highlights the Time Machine itself as a creation that defies the natural order of things, a technology that allows Alexander to transcend time and manipulate events.
The Uber Morlock argues that Alexander, as the inventor and user of the Time Machine, has no right to judge their society when he himself has disrupted the balance of natural laws. With a calm and composed demeanor, the Uber Morlock challenges Alexander’s moral superiority, asserting that the divergence of their species is simply a result of natural evolution. It suggests that judgment and condemnation are misplaced in the face of the ever-changing forces of nature.
This scene delves into profound philosophical questions surrounding morality, evolution, and the consequences of human actions. It confronts Alexander with his own contradictions and forces him to reevaluate his perspective on the society he encounters.
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The Time Machine – Uber Morlock Explains Origins of Morlocks “We All Pay A Price”
Plot
2037 when the accidental destruction of the Moon by lunar colonists has begun rendering the Earth virtually uninhabitable. While restarting the machine, he is knocked unconscious by debris and travels forward 800,000 years to 16 July 802,701 before reawakening.
The Earth has healed, and the human race has reverted to a Stone Age-like primitive lifestyle. Some survivors, called “Eloi”, live on the sides of cliffs of what was once Manhattan. Alexander is nursed back to health by a woman named Mara, one of the few Eloi who speaks English. The next day, the Eloi are attacked, and Mara is dragged underground by ape-like creatures. They are called “Morlocks,” and they hunt the Eloi. To rescue Mara, Kalen leads Alexander to Vox 114, which is still functional after 800,000 years.
After learning from Vox how to find the Morlocks, Alexander enters their underground lair through an opening that resembles the face in his nightmare. He is captured and thrown into an area where Mara sits in a cage. Alexander meets an intelligent, humanoid Über-Morlock, who explains that Morlocks descend from the humans who went underground after the Moon broke apart, while the Eloi evolved from those who remained on the surface. The Über-Morlocks are a group of telepaths who rule the other Morlocks, who use the Eloi as food and breeding vessels.
There are other factors which are contributing to our water scarcity and sinking land. Some we have seen evidence of and others we don’t know anything about. We do know that local and Federal governments and agencies have been making deals with foreign nations about which we get l ittle or know information. Soe states are allowing foreign nations to dump their waster materials, others are allowing them to use our water and drain our acquifers. Our government is part of an international agreement for storing nuclear waste.
The following articles relate to these types of contractual agreements made without public knowledge or consent.
Arizona is leasing farmland to a Saudi water company, straining aquifers, and threatening future water supply in Phoenix. Fondomonte, a Saudi company, exports the alfalfa to feed its cows in the Middle East. Their country has practically exhausted its own underground aquifers there. In Arizona, Fondomonte can pump as much water as it wants at no cost.
Groundwater is unregulated in most rural areas of the state. Fondomonte pays only $25 per acre annually. The State Land Department says the market rate is $50 dollars per acre and it provides a 50% discount because it doesn’t pay for improvements. But the $25 per acre price is about one-sixth of the market price for unimproved farmland with flood irrigation today, according to Charlie Havranek, a Realtor at Southwest Land Associates.
Although there are no records for how much Fondomonte is pumping out of the aquifer, a State Land Department report estimates the company is swallowing as much as 18,000 acre-feet every year – enough water to supply 54,000 single-family homes.
Using the average rate at which groundwater on state trust land is auctioned – as the report suggests — the value of the water Fondomonte uses could be anywhere from $3 million to $3.9 million a year.
Here’s what Rob O’Dell had to say:
One of the things being grown on the farmland is alfalfa, which is being sent back to Saudi Arabia to feed their cows. However, alfalfa can be very water intensive, which is being supplied by the ground water coming from western Arizona.
“It’s one of the most water intensive crops there are, and just with the conditions out there, they’re able to do eight to nine cuts, harvests a year of alfalfa,” reports Rob O’Dell, a reporter at The Arizona Republic.
A side note as to why: Saudi Arabia has exhausted a lot of their ground water supply. A lot of companies in Saudi Arabia have been searching around the world for a location to get their water from, and one of them is western Arizona.
Is this ground water actually from western Arizona?
“Absolutely. This is ground water that was laid down probably 70,000 to 80,000 years ago; that’s almost nonrenewable.”
As for the leases for the land, both of them were conducted by the State Land Department. One of the farms is located in Vicksburg, and the other is in Butler Valley.
How much are these leases?
“They pay about $86,000 a year. Some reports show that the water could be worth up to $3 to $4 million dollars a year that they are putting on the field every year,” said O’Dell, who went on to say this about Phoenix and their water supply: “That could be a potential water supply for Phoenix.”
Arizona ranchers, cities attempt to halt Mayes’ groundwater lawsuit against Saudi-backed farm
A group of farmers, ranchers and rural municipalities are going to court to try to stop Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes from pursuing her lawsuit to halt the pumping of groundwater by a Saudi-owned alfalfa farm.
An attorney for the Arizona Farm and Ranch Group Coalition says they fear other farms in the future could be sued for their pumping of Arizona’s underground aquifers.
Mayes is relying on a largely untested legal theory. She argues the company Fondomonte is creating a public nuisance due to the amount of groundwater it is pumping at its farms in La Paz County.
She says the amount they are pumping has dried up nearby wells and has resulted in land subsidence.
The coalition worries the outcome of the case could overturn existing water regulations and could be a dangerous expansion of public nuisance laws.
But the real purpose behind the new court filing, attorney David Brown said, is the fear that if the attorney general wins in court, “this case is just the beginning.”
“This case is a known test case for future lawsuits against other groundwater users who lawfully use groundwater under Arizona law,” the lawsuit says. And that, Brown told the judge, could mean his clients.
Operating under the umbrella of the Arizona Farm and Ranch Group Coalition, they include a laundry list of not just associations representing farmers, ranchers and cattle feeders but also cities like Holbrook, Show Low and Winslow that pump –– and rely on — groundwater. And there also are several irrigation districts that serve farms, including those that grow alfalfa — just like Fondomonte.
Knowing the agenda of the elite, this is a very legitimate fear. Infact they may have made this agreement with Saudi Arabia to create the opportunity to change the law. The farmers and ranchers have good reason to be concerned. Actually, we all do, as they propose to CONTROL ALL WATER.
So Brown wants to be able to represent them in court where they can argue, alongside Fondomonte, that Mayes’ lawsuit has no legal basis and should be dismissed.
What is clear — and what Brown wants Minder to understand — is that the outcome of this case not only could overturn existing water laws but ultimately could set a statewide precedent that would have far-reaching effects.
A spokesman for Mayes said she will oppose the effort by the others to intercede in the case but declined further comment.
Central to the issue is that only a small part of the state, geographically, is within “active management areas.” These are basins where the state has concluded that it needs to monitor and limit groundwater pumping.
But there is nothing in water law that precludes those who own or lease property in much of the rest of the state, from pumping pretty much as much water as they say they need. it says it needs to grow alfalfa. And in the case of Fondomonte, it is growing alfalfa being used to feed dairy cattle in Saudi Arabia, where such farming is banned.
Multi-year legislative efforts to impose greater restrictions in rural areas have stalled. So Mayes is trying a largely untested legal theory of charging Fondomonte with creating a “public nuisance” by pumping so much water it has dried up nearby wells and resulted in subsidence of the land around Vicksburg.
The attorney general has made no secret of why she is pursuing this legal path.
“Fondomonte is taking advantage of Arizona’s failure to protect its precious groundwater resources,” Mayes said when she filed suit in December.
But Brown is telling Minder that the attorney general has to live and act within the law Arizona does have.
It spells out that outside active management areas, landowners may “withdraw and use groundwater for reasonable and beneficial use.”
“The doctrine of reasonable use permits an overlying landowner to capture as much groundwater as can reasonably be used upon the overlying land,” Brown said, quoting from earlier Supreme Court rulings. More to the point, he said it “relieves the landowner from liability for a resulting diminution of another landowner’s water supply.”
He said what’s happening is Mayes is “unsatisfied” with what the Legislature has enacted.
“Notably, the complaint does not allege that Fondomonte has violated the Groundwater Management Act or any other law regulating groundwater use,” Brown said. And that, he said, is why his clients — also users of groundwater in rural areas — are concerned.
“The attorney general’s lawsuit against Fondomonte alleging that its groundwater pumping is excessive represents a dangerous expansion of public nuisance law that threatens the rights of all groundwater users in Arizona, including farmers, municipalities, and businesses,” Brown said. And that goes to what his clients fear if she wins — and why the judge needs to look beyond the specific claims against Fondomonte.
“In ruling on these issues, it is important that the court consider not only the interests of Fondomonte, but of all the farmers, ranchers, businesses, and municipalities that rely on groundwater to support life and livelihood,” he said. “If the attorney general’s claim against Fondomonte is successful, resolution of the novel issues presented in this case would, as a practical matter, make it difficult for Arizona Farm and Ranch Group Coalition members to defend their statutory right to pump groundwater in the future.”
Whether Mayes can convince Minder to let her use the nuisance law is unclear.
There actually is a state law that says farms are presumed not to constitute a nuisance “unless the agricultural operation has a substantial adverse effect on public health and safety.” Mayes, however, contends that is the case, saying Fondomonte’s operation does affect public health and safety.
The bigger hurdle may be the fact there really is no legal precedent in Arizona to Mayes’ claim that the nuisance law applies.
She used that nuisance claim when she went to court two years ago to stop a company’s plan to mine rock and gravel on a 25-acre parcel it owned in a neighborhood in a rural area near Chino Valley.
Mayes did get a preliminary injunction. But there never was a final ruling on whether the mine was a nuisance or whether the nuisance law applies: The lawsuit went away after the company abandoned its plan when someone else bought the property.
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Deer Park waste disposal company will house toxic wastewater from Ohio train derailment, TCEQ says
DEER PARK, Texas (KTRK) — As clean up continues from the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, a private company in the Houston area has agreed to store and dispose the toxic liquids.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) told ABC13 in an email that Texas Molecular in Deer Park is receiving the liquid waste for storage and disposal.
“TM Deer Park is authorized to accept and manage a variety of waste streams, including vinyl chloride, as part of their RCRA hazardous waste permit and underground injection control permit,” a spokesperson for the agency said.
Several of the train cars that crashed were carrying vinyl chloride, which erupted into a massive blaze, ABC News reported.
“It’s an organic compound, and it’s very, very toxic,” Dr. George Guillen, the executive director of the Environmental Institute of Houston, said. “You certainly wouldn’t want to get it in your system.”
Texas Molecular’s website reads that they provide “responsible and safe treatment and disposal solutions for even those most challenging industrial hazardous aqueous waste and wastewaters.”
The private company specializes in deep well injection, which allows them to inject the hazardous waste thousands of feet into the ground for disposal.
Guillen, who also serves as a biology and environmental science professor at the University of Houston-Clear Lake, said that is a common practice, and there should be minimal health risks to Deer Park residents.
“This injection, in some cases, is usually 4,000 or 5,000 feet down below any kind of drinking water aquifer,” he said. “Could it come up some day? Yes, maybe, but hundreds of years from now or thousands of years from now.”
Guillen said the risk lies in the transport of the chemicals for more than 1,300 miles from East Palestine to Deer Park.
SEE ALSO: Video of Ohio train derailment shows wheel bearing in ‘final stage of overheat failure,’ NTSB says
Deer Park resident Tammy Baxter has a similar concern. She first heard that the waste may be transported to the city she lives in from a video circulating on social media.
“It was a TikTok where they were calling out for truckers,” Baxter explained. “The rumor behind the call for truckers was that this was what they were transporting. I made a call to the mayor’s office in Deer Park.”
Baxter said she expected a return phone call dispelling the rumor. Instead, it was confirmed.
“I am disturbed,” Baxter said. “I am shook by the information.”
SEE ALSO: Ohio train derailment aftermath: How worried should people be about hazardous chemicals?
Both Guillen and Baxter brought up the possibility of a crash during the transport that could cause another hazardous situation.
“There has to be a closer deep well injection,” Baxter explained. “It’s foolish to put it on the roadway. We have accidents on a regular basis. Do they really want to have another contamination zone? It is silly to move it that far.”
When asked for comment, Texas Molecular told ABC13, “We communicate directly with our stakeholders including the City of Deer Park, The Deer Park Citizens Advisory Council, the Deer Park Local Emergency Committee, our employees, the TCEQ, the EPA, and local elected officials.”
ABC13 also reached out to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to find out exactly what chemicals were being transported and when but has not heard back.
For more on this story, follow Mycah Hatfield on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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To view the video on the website: CLICK HERE
DEER PARK, Texas – In picturesque North Carolina, along the seemingly pristine Cape Fear River, a chemical company called Chemours was caught discharging an industrial byproduct called GenX and it showed up in the drinking water.
Now, that chemical is being brought to Texas from North Carolina. KPRC 2 Investigates looked into why it’s being brought here and what’s being done with the chemical once it arrives.
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Texas and Michigan officials say they didn’t know water, soil from Ohio train wreck would be transported into their jurisdictions
The federal Environmental Protection Agency has ordered Norfolk Southern to stop its shipments of hazardous waste from the site of the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, so that it can review the company’s plans for disposal.
Officials in Texas and Michigan are complaining they didn’t receive any warning that contaminated water and soil from the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, would be shipped into their jurisdictions for disposal.
About 2 million gallons of firefighting water from the train derailment site were expected to be disposed in Harris County, Texas, with about half a million gallons already there, according to the county’s chief executive.
“It’s a very real problem, we were told yesterday the materials were coming only to learn today they’ve been here for a week,” Judge Lina Hidalgo said Thursday.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine was not briefed on where in the country the shipments would be sent, his spokesperson told CNN. But this is typical, as the train company is responsible for the transport of material and the EPA is responsible for regulating that transport, Daniel Tierney said.
SO, WHEN DID STATES and LOCAL GOVERNEMENTS surrender all their rights to the EPA or any other agency? Local and State governments are responsible for the well being and peace of mind of their constituents. Yes, the gove agencies set up to watch over processes and assure these things are handled properly, but when it comes to making decisions about how to address emergency situation like accidents, local and state governments should be the ones to make the decisions. Communication all along the line should be forthcoming. EVERY State the toxic waste has to pass through should be given a heads up and an opportunity to deny access. But, most especially the states and localities that will be the final destination should be fully aware and given the right to refuse.
“EPA will ensure that all waste is disposed of in a safe and lawful manner at EPA-certified facilities to prevent further release of hazardous substances and impacts to communities,” the department said in a statement to CNN on Saturday.
Three weeks after the derailment, the area surrounding the site is “definitely looking better,” EPA Director Anne Vogel said Saturday.
Federal agencies have begun transitioning from an initial emergency response phase to a remediation phase, the director said. Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention personnel have also arrived to assist with the cleanup and to address community concerns.
Vogel said the EPA has installed “sentinel wells” near the city’s municipal well field to monitor contaminants in well water as part of the agency’s long-term early detection system “to protect the city for years to come.”
EPA Regional Administrator Debra Shore said Saturday during a press conference the agency has decades of experience dealing with hazardous waste, both in cleaning up contaminated sites and in regulating the landfills where waste is disposed.
Until Friday, Norfolk Southern “had been solely responsible for the disposal of waste generated by the East Palestine train derailment,” the department said, but waste disposal plans “will be subject to EPA review and approval moving forward.”
CNN has reached out to Norfolk Southern for comment.
Contaminated soil from the derailment site was being taken to the US Ecology Wayne Disposal in Belleville, Michigan, US Rep. Debbie Dingell of Michigan said Friday.
She told CNN’s Fredricka Whitfield on Saturday that neither she nor Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer were aware of plans for toxic waste to be delivered to disposal sites in her district.
“I called everybody,” Dingell said, “Nobody had really been given a heads up that they were coming here.”
Now, you have to understand that this is NOT NORMAL PROCEDURE! If this were “NORMAL” procedure, no one would have been surprised… NONE of these officials were notified and they have been VERY VOCAL about the fact that they were not contacted in advance!
Dingell represents Michigan’s sixth congressional district which is home to two waste disposal sites.
“When I learned of this yesterday, the first call that I got, I immediately called the governor’s office, assuming that they would know about it,” she said. ”What quickly became evident is that none of the elected officials, none of the local officials, knew that this material was on its way.”
These entities are usurping our sovereignty! On a local, state and NATIONAL level. This is the GLOBAL TAKE OVER. MAKE NO MISTAKE! They are letting everyone know that RIGHTS are a fiction of the PAST.
In a Saturday update on the removal of contaminated waste, DeWine said 20 truckloads of hazardous solid waste has been hauled away from the derailment site. Fifteen of those truckloads were disposed of at a licensed hazardous waste treatment and disposal facility in Michigan and five truckloads were returned to East Palestine. WHY? Why just five?
About 102,000 gallons of liquid waste and 4,500 cubic yards of solid waste remain in storage on site in East Palestine, not including the five truckloads returned, according to DeWine. Additional solid and liquid wastes are being generated as the cleanup progresses, he added.
The complaints widen the controversy caused by the February 3 train derailment that left residents complaining about feeling sick after hazardous chemicals seeped into the air, water and soil.
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Of course the Train Derailment in EAST PALESTINE was not an isolated incident. Train derailments across the Nation have poisoned the water supply. I don’t have room to address the TRAIN issues that relate to our Water Supply here. I am working on a series of posts about WATER and hopefully, I will be able to address the TRAIN INDUSTRY.
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If you have any doubt that those who control our nation are not working in our best interest, or if you do not believe that they have the ability to manipulate our environment, check out the following posts.
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PROOF: They will, they are, they can, they have and they DO!
UPDATE ADDED 10/8/23 WELL, WELL, WELL. Wait until you get a load of what we have today!! After all these years, who would have thought. There is a lot of detail in each of the articles posted here. It is good to get as much as you can to give you a clear picture of … Click Here to Read More
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