Drilling Air Pollution

A Chesapeake Bay Foundation infrared video investigation of gas drilling-related sites in the Marcellus shale region of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Maryland revealed invisible air pollution (probably including methane) rising from almost three quarters of the sites examined (11 of 15). The video suggests that air pollution from drilling is common and not adequately regulated.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Fracking
• hydraulic fracturing
• hydrofracturing
• Marcellus shale
• natural gas
• drilling
• air pollution
• methane
• emissions
• Chesapeake Bay Foundation
• EPA
• global warming
• climate change
• energy
• Flir GasFindIR
• infrared camera
• Robert Howarth.

[ChesapeakeBayFound]

The FlirGasFindIR HSX infrared camera was designed to detect gas emissions (such as methane, bezene and toluene) from oil and gas industry facilities. CBF hired a certified infrared videographer recommended to us by Flir who normally works for the industry. This videographer detected hydrocarbon gases being emitted from 11 of 15 sites examined. We then showed the video to three independent experts, and sent the video to EPA as evidence of emissions of methane and/or other hydrocarbon gases.

[ChesapeakeBayFound]

A May 6, 2011, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection report of its own air monitoring around drilling-related sites found "elevated methane levels" and "natural gas constituents" in the air around drilling and compressor sites. The report states (on page iii) "The elevated methane results at the sampling sites would seem to confirm that the natural gas production infrastructure.... is a source of pollutant emissions." This is a similar conclusion to the one reached in the video.

[michaeljonjensen]

@JTParachem

Do the difficult task of googling - FLIR camera infrared - so that you see that the FLIR camera used was *intended* to be used for locating gas venting.

[JTParachem]

You are misrepresenting what is actually happening here. You should be ashamed of yourselves. Exhaust from generators used to power the drilling rig will go up be visible in infrared. If this is truly methane being vented to the air, it would actually auto-refrigerate when it came out of the vessel and tend to sink to the ground. Then an environmentalist professor from Cornell who wants funding from the government to study this method of drilling backs you up...Sad day for environmentalists