You are to write a 2-3 page letter (Times New Roman 12 point font, double spaced, 1 inch margins), to the Governor of New York, detailing whether to allow natural gas hydrofracking in the State of New York and if so what safeguards you would recommend.
APA 7th edition citation
Using at least three (3) mainstream references. Mainstream means a peer-reviewed science journal, government agency, an article in a major magazine or newspaper, a science-based advocacy group.
Write a 2-3 page letter (Times New Roman 12 point font, double spaced, 1 inch margins), to the Governor of New York, allowing natural gas hydrofracking in the State of New York and what safeguards you would recommend. Write the letter from the point of view of the stakeholder, Constellation Energy (a gas company with hydrofracking skills).
The first paragraph will introduce you and your position (you can be creative here and even make up a character in your stakeholder group if you like).
The next 3 paragraphs will each make a separate and distinct point that backs up your position in the first paragraph. You must justify your point with fact/science (not just an emotional plea).
The last paragraph will contain your summary and your recommendations to the Governor on whether to allow hydrofracking operations in New York and under what circumstances (i.e. regulations).
Background information and letter details are provided in the attachment.
Requirements: 2-3 pages
Marcellus Shale Hydraulic Fracturing Exercise
Overview: This exercise will cover a controversial practice of extracting natural gas called hydraulic fracturing (also known as hydrofracking). Write a 2-3 page letter from the perspective of your stakeholder, Constellation Energy (a gas company with hydrofracking skills). The scenario and the paper directions are as follows.
Introduction to the Situation:
Assume the Governor of New York is reassessing the decision to continue the ban on hydrofracking in the State of New York. There are many interest groups and individuals representing all sides of the issue. Ultimately, s/he will decide if the State of New York will continue the ban or allow hydrofracking in the Marcellus Shale area. Your role will be to select a position compatible with your assigned stakeholder group and develop arguments to sway his/her opinion through a letter and an oral presentation.
Background on Gas Well Drilling in the Marcellus Shale:
The Marcellus Shale is a black shale formation extending deep underground from Ohio and West Virginia northeast into Pennsylvania and southern New York. Although the Marcellus Shale is exposed at the ground surface in some locations in the northern Finger Lakes area, it is as deep as 7,000 feet or more below the ground surface along the Pennsylvania border in the Delaware River valley. Drilling activity is expected to focus on areas where the Marcellus shale is deeper than 2,000 feet.
Estimates of the amount of natural gas contained in the Marcellus Shale vary widely. According to a 2011 assessment by the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Marcellus Shale contains about 84 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered, technically recoverable natural gas. It is not yet known how much gas will be commercially recoverable from the Marcellus in the New York region. To put this into context, the United States uses about 24 trillion cubic feet of natural gas a year.
Although geologists have long known about the natural gas resources of the Marcellus Shale formation, the depth and tightness of the shale made gas exploration and extraction very difficult and expensive. Interest has increased significantly of late due to the recent enhancements to gas well development technology, specifically horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, and the proximity of high natural gas demand markets in Northeastern States.
Questions have been raised about possible environmental and community impacts. Most concerns are related to water use and flow-back water management. But there are also airborne pollutants from diesel equipment and fracking chemicals used in the drilling and gas stimulation process that can volatilize into the air. There is even a debate on how the process impacts climate change. Some scientists say electricity made from natural gas reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However since some methane (a potent GHG) is released during the natural gas extraction and delivery processes, some argue that natural gas hydrofracking may be as bad as coal regarding GHG emissions per kWh of electricity production. The climate change debate is unresolved.
What are horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing?
Horizontal drilling has been used in New York since the 1980s and before that in Texas and other oil and gas exporting states. A “horizontal well” is first drilled down vertically to a depth above the target gas-bearing rock formation. Special tools are then used to curve the well so that the hole is drilled horizontally within the gas-bearing rock for up to several thousand feet.
Except for special tools used underground, horizontal drilling is performed using the same equipment and technology as vertical drilling, with the same protocols in place for aquifer protection, fluid containment and waste handling.
After the well is drilled, steel casing is inserted into the well and concrete is pumped into the space outside the steel casing. Then perforation tubes use high pressure water and sand to blast holes into the steel and concrete well casing and fracture the surrounding shale rock. The sand and other water additives act as a propping material to fill into the new fractures created in the gas-bearing rock. The propping material (usually referred to as a “proppant”) holds the fractures open, allowing more gas to flow into the well than would naturally. Other chemicals are added to the water which includes friction reducers, biocides to prevent the growth of bacteria that would damage the well piping or clog the fractures, a gel to carry the proppant into the fractures, and various other agents to make sure the proppant stays in the fractures and to prevent corrosion of the pipes in the well. The fracking fluids are often injected into the ground under high pressure with large compressors that require a continuous delivery of diesel fuel to operate. Some of the water (30-70%) that is injected into the well comes back to the surface as “flowback” water which can contain naturally occurring radioactive materials from the shale formation, chemicals, sand and minerals. This flowback water is often trucked offsite and handled in a variety of ways depending on state permit requirements. Management of the flowback water can include reinjecting into the ground, sent to wastewater treatment plant, recycled for other wells or discharged into rivers. Hydraulic fracturing of the Marcellus Shale requires large volumes of water to fracture the rocks. There may be 6-8 wells on a single drill pan and each well may use 4-6 million gallons of water which often requires permits to withdraw water from major rivers and lakes. There are many clips online but here is one that illustrates the natural gas hydrofracking process:
The Paper Assignment:
You are to write a 2-3 page letter (Times New Roman 12 point font, double spaced, 1 inch margins), to the Governor of New York, detailing whether to allow natural gas hydrofracking in the State of New York and if so what safeguards you would recommend. Write the letter from the point of view of the stakeholder you are assigned by your session leaders. The first paragraph will introduce you and your position (you can be creative here and even make up a character in your stakeholder group if you like). The next 3 paragraphs will each make a separate and distinct point that backs up your position in the first paragraph. You must justify your point with fact/science (not just an emotional plea). The last paragraph will contain your summary and your recommendations to the Governor on whether to allow hydrofracking operations in New York and under what circumstances (i.e. regulations). The quality and clarity of your three talking points along with proper grammar, sentence structure and spelling will be assessed for grading purposes. The paper requires at least three (3) mainstream references. Mainstream means a peer reviewed science journal, government agency, an article in a major magazine or newspaper, a science based advocacy group or information posted by industry. You may use a separate page for your citations that will not count against your page count or you can use footnotes but you must follow APA citation style..
Below you will find links to resources for all stakeholder groups as well as sources for general information on hydrofracking. You are certainly not limited to these sites, but they are provided to help you get started. Anti-plagiarism software will be used so be sure all work is your own. Do not cut and paste sentences from the internet.
Starter Websites: Here are a few websites to get you started. There are many sites out there so feel free to venture on your own but be a cautious consumer of information. As with anything, not all sites are trustworthy.
EPA:
USGS:
EIA (US Energy Information Administration):
Energy.gov:
Live Session
You will be given some time to meet with your stakeholder group in live session. Then, you will hold a townhall meeting where each group will present for 3-4 minutes to convince the Governor of your position (your session lead will play the role of Governor). Each student must have a speaking role. Then students and instructor will step out of role and discuss observations, lessons learned and wrap up.
Suggested times for 2 hour session:
15 min – Introduction and Questions
25 min – Discuss talking points in breakout rooms
25 min – Town hall meeting – stakeholders make their points
15 min – Debate
30 min – step out of roles – lessons leaned
10 min – discuss next week’s exercise
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