Brief Synopsis of the Issue
The production of oil and gas from oil shale takes place in the surrounding areas of the UK continental shell (UK). The UK has contracted Dextrol Gas Ltd to explore, develop, and produce oil and gas from oil shale, but the problem is to ensure that existing international environmental laws are adhered to addressing the impact of managing the resulting wastes.
Recommendation(s)
It is recommended that an assessment of Dextrol Gas Ltd.’s technical skills as well as its compliance to international laws would be conducted to deliberate on the company’s technical capability to preserve and protect the environment.
Background
Boyle and Redgwell (2009, p. 23) argue that Dextrol Gas Ltd has several environmental protection issues to evaluate, which are related to the impact of international laws on the production of oil and gas using fracking technology to extract oil and gas from shale in the UK. The UK has ratified various international laws and companies operating within its jurisdiction to be obliged to adhere to the laws and regulations governing the sector. A search will be done via the internet, print journals, government sources, and databases on the issues that are to be focused in the paper for answers.
Impact of Oil/Gas Production on the Environment
One of the outputs from the production of oil and gas which are discharged into the seas is trace elements that include heavy metals, treatment chemicals, hydrocarbons, radionuclides, and sulfates (Butler, Harfenist, Leighton & Peakall 1988). Those chemicals have been shown to cause adverse environmental impacts on marine and sea lives, leading to low reproductive success in marine animals and sea birds, depending on the magnitude of the effects of the discharges (Burke, Davoren, Montevecchi & Wiese 2005).
Exploration, installation, and production of oil and gas significantly affect on the environment because of the hydraulic fracturing processes resulting in the emission of greenhouse gases causingair pollution and contamination of surface and ground water. It is critical for Dextrol Gas Ltd to factor environmental issues related to the production of oil and gas from shale rocks. The sources of non-air pollution of environment include drilling and associated wastes (Camphuysen 1998).
Water Use
Water contamination is caused by the effluence and cooling discharges and seepage from storage waste tanks. In addition, the water consists of water treatment chemicals. The processing and water treatment techniques used in the production of oil and gas have different levels of impurities and chemicals.
The fracking process produces large amounts of water causing a significant risk for groundwater. It has been established that the contamination of water pauses the risk of adverse effects on terrestrial ecosystems, which has been classified as a habitat on its own (EPA 1993).
Principles of International law
The firm has to consider the precautionary principle for oil shale exploitation based on the characteristics of gas reservoirs and transport facilities in protected areas (Frank & Barkley 1995). In addition, sustainable development will cover economic development, international social and environmental laws for the exploitation of oil shale. The company will be obliged under the polluter pays principle to compensate and cover the payment for the pollution effects caused by the oil exploration and extraction activities, without encroaching into the boundary or jurisdiction of another country under the trans-boundary law.
Drilling wastes
Drilling wastes form a significant portion of the environmental hazards. Drilling produces chemicals are added to improve the mud properties of substances. Drilling fluids include additives that are pumped into the drilling pipe to reduce the drilling pressure, synthesis muds, and fluids. Drilling has the potential to cause oil spills and oily soils because of leaks from the equipment used and workover fluids which are produced from the formation and drilling of oil. Other environmental hazards caused during the production of oil and gas include sand and other formation solids which accumulate in the wellbore when producing and injecting wells, pigging wastes to clean the pipes, and pit and sump wastes which accumulate at the bottom of tanks. These wastes must be removed in the production process. Other substances associated with the production of oil and gas include effluences rich in inorganic salts which contribute to environmental pollutions (Garland 2009).
Geological principles
The geological principles of fracking and shale gas extraction include the ability to predict the right quantity of existing permeable fracture networks, understand rock patterns, the geometry of shale rock formation, and to compressively understand how fluids flow in rocks. Rock fracture is usually controlled by the propagation of hydraulic rock fractures (Gordon, Paterson & Usenmez 2011).
Greenhouse gas emissions
Some of the volatile air emissions with are discharged into the environment as defined by the Western Regional Air Partnership (WAP) act include volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbon dioxide (CO2), hazardous air pollutants (HAPs, such as benzene, toluene, ethyl benzenes, and xylenes), particulatematter (PM), and methane (CH4) (Healy 2012, p. 13). On the other hand, air emissions due to the exploration and production of oil include NOx, SO2, VOCs, CO, particulates, ammonia (NH3), and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) (Healy 2012, p. 13).
Hydraulic Fracturing
The environmental impact of fracking is associated with the production of water as a byproduct and the contamination of ground water because of the large number of chemicals used (Sands & Galizzi 2004). They include gas emissions that risk polluting the environment, which causes adverse effects that are too difficult to remediate or restore (Howard & Fast1970). Research has shown that fracturing process creates a significant amount of fluids and chemicals with significant environmental impact that depends on the logistics used in the extraction and production processes (Birnie, Boyle & Redgwell 2009).
The drilling plans used at the surface and the relocation of drilling equipment are some of the potential sources of risk expected to arise (Jarvela & Juhold 2011). The key issues involved here include percolation and leakages that occur because of defective equipment. Some of the scientifically proven sources of environmental pollution caused by the fracturing technology include poor quality castings and leakages that occur at different points. It is evident from a number of reports that observers take little time to make sufficient researches to implicate the technology to minimize its pollution effects (Makuch & Pereira 2012).
It has been established that overweight or overbalanced drilling, poor workmanship of the cement used to seal different sections of the bore casting and contamination cause the large quantities of potentially harmful chemical elements and compounds, which dissolve into the fracking fluid. Methane forms a significant ratio of the emissions, nitrogen and helium, arsenic and lead, hydrogen sulphide, and carbon dioxide in addition to trace elements containing mercury. In addition to that, volatile organic compounds which evaporate into the atmospheric have the potential of causing climate change (Otto & Arnold 1996). Other substances with significant impact on the environment include the discharge of chemical additives used in the fracking of shale rocks and in the production of oil and gas, and surface and subsurface blow outs (Patin 1999; Burger 1993).
The challenges the company will face include disposition of the fracking fluid, which most companies choose to pond in man-made ponds. The costs associated with cleaning the stored fluids are high, making the process expensive. Other environmental implications include emissions into the atmosphere, which consist of chemical additives, methane gas, and other gaseoussubstances mentioned above.
Oil/Gas Production and International Environmental Law
The principle issues dealt within the laws include dust, lighting, air quality, soil resources, environmental issues, risk contamination, and other matters arising because of the use of fracking technology to explore, assess, exploit, and produce oil and gas from oil shale in the UK (Cooley & Donnelly 2012).
The exploration, installation of equipment, and production of oil and gas encroached on the environment are significant sources of environmental pollution, which is governed by different statutory and environmental laws to which the UK is a signatory. Dextrol Gas Ltd is bound by the statutory and environmental protection laws, and the oil shale production activities, which are covered by the UK Petroleum Exploration and Development licence (PEDL), will have a significant impact on the environment based on different exploration and production permissions.
The Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act covers the human health and the compensation provided as a result of spills and leaks into the environment with the adverse health implications on the affected people. It covers carcinogenic materials on well sites and the effects they have on the people (Brownlie 2002). The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act covers issues related to the protection of human health when handling hazardous wastes resulting from the exploration, installation of equipment, and production of oil and gas (Cooley & Donnelly 2012). The Safe Drinking Water Act is responsible for the protection of drinking water from the harmful effects of chemical, storm water discharges, and gaseous emissions into the environment (Schaffer, Agusti &Earle 2009). The act has 10 chapters, with each section and subsection covering different issues.
The company will be obliged to disclose the toxic substances and other chemicals released under the Toxic Release Inventory within the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act. The Clean Air Act (CAA) controls the emissions from mobile emissions and covers the establishment of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for the protection of the environment and human health. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulates the responsibilities of different branches of government in matters dealing with the protection of the surface environment, drilling of oil and gas, drilling and development of wells, piping of the oil production fields, maintenance of other activities, and protection of the environment form accruing disturbances (White, Fell, Smith& Keep 2014).
In the United Kingdom, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) outlines rules for companies to follow when using fracking technology, which leads to hazardous materials released into the environment (White, Fell, Smith & Keep 2014).
Critical Evaluation
The use of fracking technology is accepted by the environmental agencies in the UK, but there is need to create a program to conduct further scientific studies to discover the positive and negative effects it has on the environment. Fracking, as compared with other technologies, produces environmentally friendly discharges such as water, but the extent to which the resulting water is suitable for domestic use is not very clear.
Moreover, it is not worth rushing to use the water without appropriate scientific investigations. The area of focus consists of a network of hundreds of pipes linked to 107 oil platforms, 383 production fields, 181 gas platforms, and subsea installations, encroaching into the land and sea. The potential of oil shale production is in the South/South West coast of Bowland Shale Gas area, which has an estimated 37.6 trillion cubic meters (tcm). The pipes have the potential for disturbing the natural habitats because of leakages and the piping system. However, the regularity framework does not provide accurate data on the environmental impact of exploiting oil shale, calling for the need for further investigations.
Implementation of Recommendations
The critical problems identified in international laws that protect the environment is how to assess the technical skills of the companies involved in oil shale exploitation and how to enforce the laws and penalties for violating the laws. The first step is for the company to be thoroughly vetted in the areas of its technology and human skills. The third step is for the company to establish a memorandum of understanding the role of an environmental assessment officer to ensure compliance to the laws.
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