Monday, May 28, 2012
youngstown
An Ohio-based group is asking for additional study of the potential for fracking to contaminate groundwater.
The Environmental Protection Agency is planning a large-scale water study involving potential contamination risks from fracking. The National Ground Water Association wants that study to be adequately funded and peer-reviewed research, said Cliff Treyens, public awareness director for the organization.
“One of the questions with the EPA study in Wyoming was that it was not peer-reviewed,” he said.
The EPA released a draft report on groundwater contamination near Pavillion, Wyo. where it was determined that fracking had “contaminated ground water at and below the depth used for domestic water supply,” according to the report. The report has been criticized by multiple sources.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources considers the risk of hydraulic fracturing causing groundwater contamination unlikely.
A report issued by Penn State University states there is no publicly available evidence to date that groundwater contamination with fluids used in hydraulic fracturing has occurred as a direct result of the fracking process in the Marcellus shale.
The NGWA works with an industry that relies upon groundwater, so it is important to do everything possible to ensure that groundwater remains safe for human consumption and environmental reasons, Treyens said.
NGWA released a position paper that states’ enhanced use of fracking procedures threaten to cause groundwater contamination if proper procedures are not used and appropriate legislation is not in place.
The NGWA study cites the following risks: improper well construction, abandoned wells that were not properly filled and sealed, increased use of freshwater including groundwater in oil and gas operations, accidents during the transport or storage of oil and gas or improper wastewater management and disposal.
The NWGA published a paper in one of its journals by hydrologist Tom Myers in which he suggested shale rock is more permeable than was previously thought and that when it is fractured, toxic fracking liquid can percolate upward.
Don Siegel, professor of hydrogeology at Syracuse University, referred to the findings in the paper published by the NGWA as “fatally flawed.”
“Among the most significant errors made by Myers was his assuming most of the deep rocks overlying the Marcellus shale do not consist of dry, dense shale. As explained in E&E News earlier this month by my colleague Terry Engelder, that’s just not true; most of the rock above the Marcellus consists of shale. And since shale can’t pass much water, particularly if it is dry and solid, Myers’ computer model cannot calculate proper water flow conditions,” Siegel said.
The NGWA paper also makes faulty assumptions in how groundwater moves and in the size of the faults created by hydraulic fracturing, he said.
If fractures were simple to create in the dense shale material, then the gas contained within could have escaped naturally before now, Siegel said.
The Environmental Defense Fund is another group that agrees more oversight and testing is necessary to determine if fracking causes groundwater contamination, said Matt Watson, senior energy-policy manager for the fund.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources recommends that people who are going to have their wells tested before the start of horizontal-drilling operations should review the well log record for the site and have a professional check the site and test for chloride and sodium, which are primary chemicals used in the brine water.
ODNR is the state organization responsible for testing any allegations of groundwater contamination accused of coming from oil and gas operations.
Jerry James, president of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association and the Artex Oil Co., questions if more studies will yield any evidence of groundwater contamination due to fracking.
“The EPA’s own study could not find any groundwater contamination that could be linked to fracking,” he said. “There have been 1.3 million wells fracked in the U.S., and they’ve yet to find one.”