Environmental Geochemistry Issues Semi-Monthly

An important bit of information has just been brought to my attention...  So important, in fact, that I have chosen to make it available for your perusal today. It is the technique called “Acidization” , where hydrochloric and hydrofluoric acids are used to “demineralize” oil shales and tar sands for the specific purpose of kerogen extraction. It is a method used that is not as highly visible to the public as hydraulic fracturing or “fracking”, but the consequences of these drilling methods may possibly be even more devastating geochemically, as well as environmentally. For those who are unaware of these oil shale extraction techniques, in broad strokes, Hydrochloric acid (HCl) is used for the dissolution of carbonate minerals ( e. g. , calcite, dolomite), and Hydrofluoric acid (HF) is used for the dissolution of silicate minerals ( e. g. , hydrous clays, quartz) that might be associated with or found within a shale formation. Both are incredibly powerful mineral acids...

BLM’s New Draft Fracking Rules Give Industry a Free Pass, But Were They Written By ExxonMobil? : pDeSmogBlog notes that the Bureau of Land Management’s recently-released rules governing fracking on federal lands ”will adopt the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) model bill written by ExxonMobil for fracking chemical fluid disclosure on U.S. public.” It uses a voluntary online chemical disclosure database that has “truck-sized” loopholes, most notably that it’s voluntary — editors. By Frances Beinecke via [...]/p Occurring almost simultaneously with the close of the first 45-day public comment period for the Keystone XL Pipeline Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (DSEIS) in April 2013 that was recently posted (see blog post dated March 20, 2013), it appears that another document had been "quietly" released for public scrutiny, as well:  The 2nd Draft of Proposed Rule for the regulation of hydraulic fracturing on Federal and India...

Much has happened since the closing of the 45 day Public Comment period regarding the Keystone XL Draft SEIS on April 22, 2013 ...    Many have been agog concerning this subject.   Amongst the myriad of articles published thus far, I have chosen two articles for your perusal.   The first was written by Ben BRUMFIELD from CNN , and was published on April 23, 2013 ; and the second was written by Nick SNOW , Washington Editor of Oil & Gas Journal , and was published on April 29, 2013.   They are as follows:       1)    Oil, Money and Politics; EPA Snags Keystone XL Pipeline http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/23/politics/keystone-xl-pipeline         2)  EPA Critiques Keystone XL Draft Supplemental EIS http://www.ogj.com/articles/print/volume-111/issue-4d/general-interest/epa-critiques-keystone-xl-draft-supplemental.html The EPA Comment Letter , dated April 22, 2013 , referred to in the...