TY - JOUR

T1 - Landfarming

T2 - A contested space for the management of waste from oil and gas extraction

AU - Bloomfield, Brian Peter

AU - Doolin, Bill

N1 - The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Environment and Planning A, 49 (11), 2017, © SAGE Publications Ltd, 2017 by SAGE Publications Ltd at the Environment and Planning A page: http://journals.sagepub.com/home/epn on SAGE Journals Online: http://journals.sagepub.com/

PY - 2017/11

Y1 - 2017/11

N2 - The extraction of unconventional hydrocarbons, particularly through hydraulic fracturing (‘fracking’), has generated both support and opposition in many countries around the globe. Along with arguments about economic benefits, decarbonisation, transition fuels and groundwater contamination etc., the rapid expansion of this industry presents a pressing problem as regards the disposal of the resultant waste – including drilling and cutting material, oil and gas residues, various chemicals used in the process, salts and produced water. One putative solution – ‘landfarming’ – is a disposal process that involves spreading oil and gas waste on to land and mixing it with topsoil to allow bioremediation of the hydrocarbons. This paper examines the case of landfarming in New Zealand where the practice has proved controversial due to its association with fracking, fears about the contamination of agricultural land and potential danger to milk supplies. Drawing upon Gieryn’s notion of cultural cartography and boundary work as well as the literature on the politics of scale it analyses the struggles for epistemic authority regarding the safety of landfarming. The case has wider implications in terms of the management of waste from non-conventional hydrocarbons as well as other environmental issues in which the politics of scale figure in contested knowledge claims.

AB - The extraction of unconventional hydrocarbons, particularly through hydraulic fracturing (‘fracking’), has generated both support and opposition in many countries around the globe. Along with arguments about economic benefits, decarbonisation, transition fuels and groundwater contamination etc., the rapid expansion of this industry presents a pressing problem as regards the disposal of the resultant waste – including drilling and cutting material, oil and gas residues, various chemicals used in the process, salts and produced water. One putative solution – ‘landfarming’ – is a disposal process that involves spreading oil and gas waste on to land and mixing it with topsoil to allow bioremediation of the hydrocarbons. This paper examines the case of landfarming in New Zealand where the practice has proved controversial due to its association with fracking, fears about the contamination of agricultural land and potential danger to milk supplies. Drawing upon Gieryn’s notion of cultural cartography and boundary work as well as the literature on the politics of scale it analyses the struggles for epistemic authority regarding the safety of landfarming. The case has wider implications in terms of the management of waste from non-conventional hydrocarbons as well as other environmental issues in which the politics of scale figure in contested knowledge claims.

KW - Boundary work

KW - cultural cartography

KW - fracking

KW - landfarming

KW - politics of scale

U2 - 10.1177/0308518X17730582

DO - 10.1177/0308518X17730582

M3 - Journal article

VL - 49

SP - 2457

EP - 2476

JO - Environment and Planning A

JF - Environment and Planning A

SN - 0308-518X

IS - 11

ER -