Pittsburgh International Airport has seen better days . Saddled with debt from build now unused William Henry Gates , the riotous aerodrome isexpanding into a completely different business : fracking . The airport will stay open as drillers wiretap the gas reserves underneath , thanks to a technique call horizontal drilling .
Horizontal drilling was first developed ten ago , but it ’s make out to the vanguard as part of hydraulic fracturing — better known as “ fracking”—which exploded in recent years . Fracking is especially well - suited for natural gasolene deposits like the Marcellus Shale that runs under Pittsburgh ’s drome and broad swathes of Pennsylvania . In fact , frackers are already all over the Marcellus Shale , and in Pittsburgh International Airport , they ’ve line up a large lander owner desperate for money . The deal is supposed to net nearly half a billion dollar sign over the next 20 years for the airport .
As gas is excerpt from down payment underneath the terminals and rail , the airdrome above primer coat will remain entirely in operation . The well spread out outside of the airport , but their horizontal tentacle will extend two miles underground under the aerodrome itself .
From a pure engineering point of view , horizontal drilling is a technological wonder . technologist use sensors to thread the recitation through a relatively thin layer of tilt thousand of foot below dry land , guiding it up , down , right , and left to reach especially hopeful deposits . One oilfield operations managercompared it to“dropping a plumb - line from the top of the Empire State Building and then guiding it through the rear and front windscreens of every cable car park in the nearby street . ” Water along with moxie and chemicals is then injected into the well , do the rock to fracture ( “ fracking ” ) and release natural gas . ( In case you ’re still curious , here is anexcellent technical but readable primeron the total process of fracking . )
fracture the rocks beneath an drome does not seem , at first blush , to be a good idea . But fracking as in reality been going on for years at Dallas Fort - Worth , and petroleum and accelerator H. G. Wells under Denver International predate the airdrome , according to theNew York Times . So far , it does n’t seem to have caused major trouble . Fracking ’s link to earthquakes is related to injectant wellspring used to dispose of fracking fluid , not the yield well themselves . Local resident physician , however , arenot amazingly upsetabout well and toxic fracking chemicals near their home .
What is especially unusual is the degree to which Pittsburgh International will rely on gas revenues to keep the airport run . The airport will get $ 20 million a year — compare that to an engage budget of $ 91 million — that it hopes to invest in attracting more passenger . The drilling rigs are already at work , so hopefully it will testify to be a worthwhile investment and everything will go grant to plan . [ New York Times ]
Top trope : US Airways trajectory at Pittsburgh International Airport . When US Airways pulled its hub from Pittsburgh a tenner ago , the number of flight at the airport sharply decline .
EnergyFrackingPittsburgh
Daily Newsletter
Get the best tech , science , and cultivation news in your inbox daily .
News from the futurity , deliver to your present .
You May Also Like
