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Flaring a Gas Well
After a Marcellus gas well is
drilled and hydraulically fractured, open flaring is often used to
test production of the well. The
EPA and Pennsylvania DEP do not currently monitor or enforce any air
quality regulations around Marcellus Shale natural gas wells and
facilities, since drillers are exempt from the Clean Air Act.
Important environmental oversight was removed by Congress in the
2005 Federal Energy Appropriations Bill, which also includes
additional exemptions from the Clean Water Act, Safe
Drinking Water Act and CERCLA.
A large number of pollutants are released into the air during the
flaring process, making it an undesirable practice. Included in
these
airborne pollutants are the chemicals used to frac the
well, as well as any of 5-dozen other pollutants including the
following: acetalhyde, acrolein, benzene, ethyl benzene,
formaldehyde, hexane, naphthalene, propylene, toluene, and xylenes.
Drilling companies could use "green completions" to improve air
quality and provide themselves with extra revenue. These are
mentioned in a January 2009 report by Dr. Armendariz of SMU:
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"Green Completions" or
"The Green Flowback Process"
"Some recent
reports of the effectiveness of green completions in the
U.S. are available, including one by the U.S. EPA which
estimated 70% capture of formerly released gases with
green completions. If green completion procedures can
capture 61% to 98% of the gases formerly released during
well completions, the process would be a more
environmentally friendly alternative to flaring of the
gases, since flaring destroys a valuable commodity and
prevents its beneficial use. Green completions would
also certainly be more beneficial than venting of the
gases, since this can release very large quantities of
methane and VOCs to the atmosphere. Another factor in
favor of capturing instead of flaring is that flaring
can produce carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas), carbon
monoxide, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and
particulate matter (soot) emissions."
Full Report (PDF) |
Below are photos and videos of gas flares
from Marcellus Shale gas wells |
