Health Hazards of Silica
Hydraulic fracturing sand contains up to 99% silica. Breathing silica can cause silicosis. Silicosis is a lung disease where lung tissue around trapped silica particles reacts, causing inflammation and scarring and reducing the lungs' ability to take in oxygen.ii Workers who breathe silica day after day are at greater risk of developing silicosis. Silica can also cause lung cancer and has been linked to other diseases, such as tuberculosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and kidney and autoimmune disease.iii
ii NIOSH [1986] Occupational respiratory diseases. Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 86-102.
iii NIOSH [2002] Hazard Review, Health Effects of Occupational Exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica. Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2002-129.
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The discussion seems to be quite useful. Workers who breathe silica day after day are at greater risk of developing silicosis. Silica can also cause lung cancer and has been linked to other diseases, such as tuberculosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and kidney and autoimmune disease.
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Henry Jordan
Hydraulic Seal Kits
There is also the danger from trucking in the millions of tonnes that will be required to frac the Canning Basin.
DeleteThen it has to be stored.
Then mixed.
Then used in the frac.
Then some is returned in flowback and produced water.
Then this has to be stored.
Most likely in evaporation ponds where it will be blown around the country side in the wind.
Breathed in by people who already have respiratory problems.
Once in the environment it will stay there to be breathed in by all.
Take a look at the map the Canning is the biggest of them all.
Don't listen to Buru and their smooth talking mates.
IF it ever gets off the ground it will be a monumental disaster for all the Kimberley.
I'm not kidding look at the maps!
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This mornings radio news :
DeleteBURU have reached an agreement with TO's in the Canning Basin to resume work however BURU would not elaborate on whether they would be using the controversial FRACKING process.
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NO! Don't mention fracking!
So it's obvious their plan to "muffle" and "stifle" the facts of what will be required to frac the Canning in order to avoid or downplay the negative effects the controversial fracking process has on peoples health the environment and everything that lives in it continues.
Controversy must be avoided at all times.
Very sneaky!
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ALSO very sneaky.
DeleteThe WA government is quietly moving some Aboriginal sites from the main register over to another register called "Other Aboriginal Sites"
The pollies and public servants say oh goody goody this will make it easier for Aboriginals to record information about sites AND of course it has nothing to do with mining companies getting their projects fast tracked over the top of these sites.
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Because of the huge expense Buru face drilling and fracking for gas in the Canning and having to sell oil to finance this it is only a matter of time before they admit a full scale OIL fracking program will have to be wound up if they are going to raise enough cash to do the gas.
ReplyDeleteAnd there is plenty of push for oil fracking ramping up.
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Windfall seen in shale oil and gas
Australia could reap a significant windfall from its shale oil and gas reserves, which could be as much as 10 times the existing known reserves, according to a US government report.
The report, by the US Department of Energy, found there were sufficient shale oil and shale gas reserves globally to fuel demand for several years, at least, on present estimates.
As much as one-third of all potential gas reserves globally could be recoverable from shale and around 10 per cent of oil, the report argued.
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For Australia, the prospect of significant oil to be tapped from shale reserves holds significant promise, amid dwindling domestic oil reserves, which has resulted in a surge in imports.
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The study found Australia has an estimated 437 trillion cubic feet of recoverable shale gas reserves, ranking behind Mexico, but ahead of South Africa. This is 10 times the existing identified natural gas reserves in Australia of 43 trillion cubic feet of gas. Perhaps more importantly, the report put Australia's reserves of shale oil at significantly higher than existing oil reserves, at a time when Australia's oil imports continue to rise. It estimated shale oil reserves at 17,500 million barrels, which is substantially higher than existing known reserves of 1433 million barrels.
Australia's annual oil production is running at 192 million barrels, according to the report.
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The report noted Australia could be an early developer of its potential shale reserves.
The actual level of economically recoverable shale oil and shale gas is likely to be smaller than the estimated recoverable reserves, since it depends on product prices and the cost of extraction and processing.
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Australia has several basins of potential shale oil and gas reserves, the largest being the Canning Basin in the north of Western Australia, the Georgina and Beetaloo basins in the Northern Territory and western Queensland, and the Cooper Basin in central Australia.
Both the smaller Perth Basin and the Maryborough basin, on coastal Queensland, host potential reserves as well, although they have been less explored. Both are the nearest to population centres, although both occupy smaller areas.
''Of the six assessed basins'' in Australia, the report noted, ''the Cooper Basin, Australia's main onshore gas-producing basin, with its existing gas processing facilities and transportation infrastructure, could be the first commercial source of shale hydrocarbons''.
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The study estimates China has the largest shale gas reserves, at more than 1115 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas, while for shale oil, Russia has the largest reserves at an estimated 75 billion barrels.
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It's getting hard to imagine the coal and bauxite getting going with all the doom and gloom from Rio.
ReplyDeleteCost-cutting Rio looks at offloading coal sale
Eighteen months after taking full control of NSW coalminer Coal & Allied, Rio Tinto is reportedly soon to finalise the sale of a large minority stake - along with holdings in some of its Queensland coalmines - as it seeks to cut its level of debt.
The sale comes while Rio is looking to offload its Canadian iron ore assets and its Ashton diamond mine in the Kimberley region of Western Australia as it cuts capital spending after the elevation of former iron ore division boss Sam Walsh to chief executive.
His promotion followed heavy provisions taken against a poorly thought-out acquisition of coal assets in Mozambique and after its disastrous acquisition of Alcan, the Canadian-based aluminium group.
Rio refused to comment on speculation on Tuesday of the looming deadline for bids for a 29 per cent stake in Coal & Allied, which operates a suite of coalmines in the Hunter Valley, along with its Clermont and Blair Athol mines in Queensland.
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The Hunter Valley mines produce about 12 million tonnes of coal annually, with Clermont producing a further 4 million tonnes. These mines comprise only a portion of Rio's share of an estimated 30 million tonnes of coal produced at its mines in Australia.
China's state-owned Shenhua and India's Aditya Birla Group are among companies considering bidding for the coal assets, which have an estimated value of $3.2 billion, as is Coal India, another state-owned entity.
Shenhua is already developing a coal mine in the Hunter Valley.
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The potential sale comes amid weak steaming coal prices globally, with little sustained improvement expected, thanks to the prospect of rising US exports amid the surge in oil and gas reserves in north America because of the shale revolution.
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Rio has a 50.1 per cent stake in Clermont, with trading house Mitsubishi Corp holding a 31.4 per cent stake.
Mitsubishi also has a 20 per cent stake in Coal & Allied.
It's good news that international communities has joined hands for stopping hydraulic fracturing and other environmental crisis.
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Bruce Hammerson
Hydraulic Installation Kits