Drilling opponents concerned about water contamination Steve Doane, sdoane@news-press 12:14 a.m. EDT May 1, 2014 STORY HIGHLIGHTS Drilling opponents are worried about contamination from an unauthorized drilling procedure. The “acid stimulation technique” was done without approval of state, raising concerns about aquifers Collier gets water from shallow aquifers in area of well Recent disclosures about unauthorized drilling operations in Collier County have oil opponents worried about water. They’re concerned about possible contamination of Collier’s aquifers from drilling fluids the Dan A. Hughes Co. pumped underground during an “enhanced extraction procedure” performed this winter at its Hogan Island well, southwest of Lake Trafford. According to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the company “proposed an enhanced extraction procedure that had not previously been used in Florida. The company proposed to inject a dissolving solution at sufficient pressure to achieve some openings in the oil bearing rock formation that would be propped open with sand in pursuit of enhancing oil production.” That description is consistent with the EPA’s definition of hydraulic fracturing or “fracking.” The DEP said the company was not permitted to perform the operation and defied a cease and desist order from the agency. For the violations, DEP fined the company $25,000 and ordered it to hire a third party to test groundwater to determine whether any contamination occurred. The company, in a statement, denied it was fracking and described the procedure as an “acid stimulation technique.” It also maintains that “at no time was the groundwater in any danger of coming into contact with fluids flowing through the well pipe” during the 2-day operation, according to the statement. Drilling opponents and environmental activists have taken issue with several aspects of the operation, particularly the potential contamination of area aquifers with drilling chemicals, including hydrochloric acid. “They’ve done experiments with our water supply, and we’re left to deal with what they did after they’ve done it. We don’t even know if it’s possible to clean an aquifer after it’s been polluted,” said Jennifer Hecker, director of natural resource policy at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida. The procedure’s details are not public information because it’s been labeled a “trade secret.” Under Florida law, agencies can be exempted from public records statutes if doing so would divulge a trade secret. “We don’t know what we don’t know, but I think think we’re going to find out more and that’s disappointing,” Hecker said. Dan A. Hughes will hire a third party to conduct groundwater testing by June and that party will prepare a report on groundwater quality standards by Dec. 1, according to the consent order. The Collier County Public Water Supply System supplies the bulk of public water in the county, and officials say they’d know if there was something in the water. “Oh yeah,” said Margie Hapkie, a spokeswoman for Colliers Public Utilities Division. “We’d know.” The utility serves 59,000 meters from North Naples to the Isles of Capri. County cities — Naples, Immokalee, Marco Island and Everglades City — along with some smaller communities like Ave Maria, all have their own separate water utilities but CCPWSS is the largest, Hapkie said. Last year, the county pumped more than 3 billion gallons of water from 102 wells in three wellfields in Golden Gate Estates. The wells are relatively spaced out across the area, she said. The northern parts of Golden Gate Estates are less than 2 miles from the Hogan Island Well. Collier’s wells pull from the Tamiami aquifer, a relatively shallow freshwater supply of groundwater located beneath most of Southwest Florida. It also pulls from the deeper, brackish mid- and lower-Hawthorne aquifer. The average depth of the Tamiami wells is 118 feet, the mid-Hawthorne is 487 and the lower-Hawthorne is 847 feet, according to data from the Collier Public Utilities Division. The Hogan Island well is intended to descend well below that, to 13,500 feet, then horizontally to 16,900 feet, according to a permit application for the well filed with DEP. Connect with this reporter on Twitter: @Steve_Doane_ or facebook/SteveDoaneJournalist
Posted on: Fri, 02 May 2014 00:15:18 +0000