Tuesday
Nov052013
by 
Bishop Hill
Bishop Hill Frack fluid on the rocks
Nov 5, 2013 Energy: gas 
In a nice bit of public relations work, Halliburton executives took it upon themselves to drink some of their latest fracking fluid to show just how harmless it is.
“It was absolutely the first time I drank fracking fluid — you can be sure of that,” said Michael Binnion, President of QOGA and CEO of Questerre Energy Corp. a couple of days after Monday’s event, noting that 20 to 25 executives drank the brew. “I feel fine. There was quite a build-up, but it was a bit of a let-down as it was less viscous than I thought it would be, but more viscous than water. And very stale-tasting.”
Presumably they left the sand out.
Reader Comments (18)
I find this more impressive than Gummer, now Deben, pushing a beefburger at his young child to make the same sort of point - that was not the behaviour of a responsible adult. Why did he not simply eat it himself? Perhaps the use of children as political weapons is just too much for eco-zealots to resist.
Yes well sand doesn't tend to be a fluid. We've all no doubt ingested sand when on the beach.
They'll probably have gas for a few days.
" And very stale-tasting". Nothing that the addition of some rum, blackberry/banana liqueur, orange juice and grenadine couldn't cure, maybe? Hopefully some BH readers who are also mixologists will be able to come up with a snappy name for what promises to be a fashionable new cocktail.
Reminds me of my favourite crop-spraying-related story. A farmer had endless problems with a hysterical neighbour, who would call the police/environment agency/health&safety every time the crop sprayer ventured into the field next to her house. One day, he sent the sprayer into the field, and waited for the inevitable eruption. Once all the officials were gathered, he brought out from the back of his Land Rover a set of shot glasses. He took one, the tractor driver took one, and they proceeded to fill them from the nozzles of the sprayer, and then drank them dry. The assembled officials politely declined the offer to join him, but the complaints suddenly dried up.
It's probably a rural myth....but it's still a good story!
It reminds of Kenneth Melanby who used to start his pesticide lectures by swallowing a teaspoon of DDT. He did this for 40 years!
Yes the same stuff Rachel Carson (the environmentalist icon) told us was so dangerous to human health. Truth just gets in the way of these zealots that is why they ignore it!
Whereas Aunty Beeb deliberately misleads. In its ironically titled "Fracking: Untangling fact from fiction", it states:-
"There have been worries that the fluid is dangerous - suspicions that were fuelled by the reluctance of many companies in the US to disclose what's exactly in the mixture. Democrats in the US Congress released a report that detailed some 750 different chemicals and other components used in fracking fluid."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20595228
That US Congressional report details the 750 different ingredients used in developing all the various fracking fluids (plural), used experimentally over many years.
One of those dangerous chemicals is DMHO, presumably.
http://www.dhmo.org/facts.html
@ Nov 5, 2013 at 10:17 AM | Unregistered CommenterPeter S
Peter , you owe me a new computer keyboard for that one!! Coffee everywhere.
Reminds me slightly of my 'party-piece' at gatherings (hopefully which included members of the fair sex) which involved someone circulating with trays of white wine.. Once everyone in my group had taken one I would study the wine for a moment or two, and then declare: 'Well - that horse will never work again..' with the aim of trying to get one or more of the laydees to exhale her mouthful of wine down her nose...
I know.... Sad....
To the poster who mentioned Ken Melanby, he was also one of the first scientists to warn about the threat to the environment of the 'greenhouse effect'.
Re:DDT. I understood a number of scientists stood in front of a senate committee and chewed all the way through to demonstrate how harmless it was. Unfortunately for them the 'fix' was already in.
Precisely Phillip.
A new cure for constipation.
Then there are those who have offered to swallow plutonium fuel pellets, based on the risks assessed here:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9314220
The biggest risk is apparently the excretion of a radioactive fecal bolus which would make the area septic tank a hazardous waste area...
Strangely the offer or even the completed stunt never gets quite as much press or movie dramatization as the erin vrokobich reverse sort of stunt.
This is not the first time that an executive has drunk some industrial concoction to prove that it was harmless. There used to be a chemical works near to what is now Etihad Stadium in Manchester that used low-grade potassium ferrocyanide in the manufacture of one of its products. A rumour got out that the effluent that was pumped into the canal contained this deadly chemical. The MD drank some of the effluent to prove that it was clean. The product was a dispersant added to salt for spreading on the roads. The MD at another time put in his mouth some of the salt with added dispersant to demonstrate that the potassium ferrocyanide was not present in the end product.
Maybe the wind developers should take power from their wind generators. Their blinking lights could also illustrate their moral superiority. I 'd almost be willing to pay their electric bill to see them live with the product the want us to use.
"Frack fluid on the rocks"
You, sir, never fail to impress.
It is quite easy to get the eco-greenies on side, just tell them that the fracking will have to be curtailed, as fracking fluid causes hemp weed seedlings to grow stronger.
Wheel out government scientist to explain....
:-)