Fwd: WaterNews: May 23, 2019

0 views
Skip to first unread message

Markos

unread,
May 24, 2019, 9:50:19 AM5/24/19
to SERRAS SUSTENTAVEIS, agua-olha...@yahoogrupos.com.br, aguase...@yahoogrupos.com.br, sempresu...@googlegroups.com, Ambiente Agua, hack...@googlegroups.com




-------- Mensagem encaminhada --------
Assunto: WaterNews: May 23, 2019
Data: Thu, 23 May 2019 19:18:57 +0000
De: Circle of Blue <in...@circleofblue.org>
Responder a: Circle of Blue <in...@circleofblue.org>
Para: mar...@c2o.pro.br


U.S. oil and gas companies are setting production records, while also pumping up volumes of chemical-laden water. What to do with the noxious water?
2019.05.23

Every day millions of gallons of wastewater from oilfield operations moves across the desert of southeast New Mexico’s Permian Basin. About half is recycled and reused to drill and frack new oil wells. The other half is injected into the ground at wastewater disposal sites like this one near Carlsbad. Photo © Keith Schneider / Circle of Blue

EPA Considers Options for Reuse and Discharge
of Oil and Gas Wastewater

As it weighs giving states, tribes, and fossil fuel companies more leeway in how they handle rising volumes of oilfield wastewater, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will have to balance regulatory flexibility with the potential for harm to the environment and human health.

That’s one conclusion from a draft study the agency released on May 15. The study describes current industry practices for managing wastewater, assesses the need for additional options, such as discharging water into streams or treating it for use in agriculture, and outlines impediments to reuse.


Wyoming regulators are considering a permit revision that would increase the amount of oil and gas wastewater that is discharged into Boysen Reservoir. Photo courtesy of Flickr/Creative Commons user ocean_dfr

Energy Companies Eye Big Oil and Gas Expansion in Wyoming

Two huge oil and gas projects in Wyoming are testing the Trump administration’s resolve to maximize energy production from federally managed public lands.

If the Converse County and Moneta Divide projects are fully developed, some 9,250 oil and gas wells could be drilled and hydraulically fractured, mostly into federal lands and subsurface mineral holdings in Wyoming’s Powder River and Wind River basins.


 Hotspots H2O

Lowest Rainfall In Decades Pushes
North Korea Toward Famine

The lack of rain is worsening North Korea’s chronic food shortages, and an estimated 10.1 million people, about 40 percent of the population, are facing severe food insecurity. The situation is not yet a famine, says Herve Verhoosel of the World Food Programme (WFP). But it could end up that way in coming months.


What’s Up With Water – May 20, 2019


“What’s Up With Water” condenses the need-to-know news on the world’s water into a snapshot for the start of the workweek via podcast.

This week's edition includes coverage on the CDC's statement that hepatitis A cases in the last three years were up nearly 300 percent over the previous three-year period in the U.S and how most of the seas in Europe are contaminated by heavy metals and synthetic substances. Elsewhere, listen on how North Korea is suffering from record-low rainfall this spring, leading international aid agencies to call for food assistance. And in Bosnia, the government declared a state of emergency after severe rain and floods damaged houses and crops, and disrupted power and water supplies. Finally, in Mozambique, reconstruction after Cyclones Idai and Kenneth will require an estimated $3.2 billion in aid. Listen to these stories and more in this week's edition of What's Up With Water. 


You can listen to the latest edition of What's Up With Water, as well as all past editions, by downloading the podcasts on iTunes, following on Spotify, and subscribing on SoundCloud.

From Circle of Blue's Archives: 
Water lines snake across the Permian basin. Photo © Keith Schneider/Circle of Blue

Permian Oil Boom Uncorks
Multibillion-Dollar Water Play

The United States is now the world’s largest crude oil producer, and close to one-third of the country’s output comes from the Permian.

Oil is not the only liquid that emerges from the Permian’s wells. Producing oil produces even more water: two to five barrels of water for every barrel of fracked oil. (A barrel equals 42 gallons.) As oil production climbs to new heights, the basin is swimming in its own wastes. Getting rid of the produced water is a large and expanding business.





Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages