So they’re going to really frack up South Africa. THere going to bring millions of gallons of water to a desert with NO water. Then they’ll add toxic chemicals to the water to crack the shale to get the natural gas. Then they’ll dump the toxic into the ground water to really frack it up. See from the NY Times:
KAROO, South Africa — When a drought dried up their wells last year, hundreds of farmers and their families flocked to local fairgrounds here to pray for rain, and a call went out on the regional radio station imploring South Africans to donate bottled water.
Kristi Pretorius for The New York Times
Trenly Spence says “one big spill, leaky pipe or crack underground that their studies didn’t catch, and a farm my family has run for four generations is done.”
Covering much of the roughly 800 miles between Johannesburg and Cape Town, this arid expanse — its name means “thirsty land” — sees less rain in some parts than the Mojave Desert.
Even so, Shell and several other large energy companies hope to drill thousands of natural gas wells in the region, using a new drilling technology that can require a million gallons of water or more for each well. Companies will also have to find a way to dispose of all the toxic wastewater or sludge that each well produces, since the closest landfill or industrial-waste facility that can handle the waste is hundreds of miles away.
“Around here, the rain comes on legs,” said Chris Hayward, 51, a brawny, dust-covered farmer in Beaufort West, quoting a Karoo saying about how rare and fleeting precipitation is in the area.
With his three skinny border collies crouching dutifully at his side, Mr. Hayward explained that he had to slaughter more than 600 of his 2,000 sheep last year because there was not enough water to go around.
“If our government lets these companies touch even a drop of our water,” he said, “we’re ruined.”
South Africa is among the growing number of countries that want to unlock previously inaccessible natural gas reserves trapped in shale deep underground. The drilling technology — hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” for short — holds the promise of generating new revenue through taxes on the gas, creating thousands of jobs for one of the country’s poorest regions, and fueling power plants to provide electricity to roughly 10 million South Africans who live without it.
But many of the sites here and on other continents that are being considered for drilling by oil and gas companies and by governments short of cash are in fragile areas where local officials have limited resources, political leverage or experience to ensure that the drilling is done safely.
A Surge in Interest
The interest from big energy companies in South Africa and elsewhere means that shale gas may redraw the global energy map, according to many energy experts.
Google the article for more, or see
Drilling Down: Learning Too Late of the Perils in Gas Well Leases (December 2, 2011)
Drilling Down: Rush to Drill for Natural Gas Creates Conflicts With Mortgages (October 20, 2011)
Drilling Down: A Tainted Water Well, and Concern There May Be More (August 4, 2011)