• Return to Injection Wells

    In 2013 we spent a good deal of our Gas Well Study time investigating Underground Injection Wells used to dispose of oil and gas industry liquid waste deep underground. The injection well that first attracted our interest is in Fayette county and has been operating since 2002. Their permit expired in October 2012; they managed to get the long-overdue permit renewal application in to the Office of Oil and Gas in January 2013. While the Office was processing the permit the operator was allowed to inject waste without a permit. The operator eventually got a permit in 2014 which was revoked a month later but is still injecting waste as the Office continued to process a new permit application.

    There are too many issues with the operator, the facility’s contaminating a nearby stream, the Office’s procedures to try to write a brief post here. Instead, here’s a page on Sootypaws devoted to the well and here’s a great video that presents the issues.

    The Office has finally created a new draft permit which has numerous flaws, including not having conditions required by state and federal law.

  • Fall in the Woods

    north_fall

    We’re in the midst of fall color here in the woods. This photograph was shot from the house up in the loft through the window by our bed. This was in mid-October, just as leaves started to turn and the maples and hickories were golden. Now more than half the leaves have fallen and the colors range from bright red to dark brown, with a few trees still green.

    Leaves hadn’t really started to carpet the forest floor (or our yard) in mid-October. In early November we’ve already raked and mowed the leaves around the house, shop and shack. We’re getting cold fronts passing through with a fair amount of rain for each, so this year the threat of forest fire hasn’t been so great. Once the leaves dry from the most recent rain we’ll begin raking and mowing again.

    The raked leaves go into large compost piles, two next to the yard and one in the garden. Eventually the composted leaves go to the garden, either as mulch or “soil” to enrich the beds.