New Study Predicts Frack Fluids Can Migrate to Aquifers Within Years

A new study published in Ground Water two weeks ago has concluded that fracking chemicals injected into the ground could reach drinking water supplies much more rapidly than previously predicted, ProPublica reports.

Scientists and experts have hypothesized that the chemicals used in fracking, such as benzene and methanol, would remain safely underground, miles below water supplies. But the study, which used computer modeling, found that the chemicals could reach the surface in as little as a few years.

‘”Simply put, [the rock layers] are not impermeable,” said the study’s author, Tom Myers, an independent hydrogeologist.’

This study is the first peer-reviewed research of its kind and it was funded by organizations that oppose fracking in the Marcellus.

EPA says water OK at 20 more wells in Dimock, Pa.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

According to AP, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a report Friday that said testing at 20 more water wells in Dimock, Pa. has shown no dangerous levels of contamination.

Methane was present in three of the newly tested wells, and one showed levels of barium well above the EPA’s maximum level. An EPA spokesman said a new treatment system installed in the well is removing the metal and fixing the problem.

EPA reveals water quality test results from Dimock, Pa.

AP reported Thursday that EPA well water testing at 11 homes in northeast Pennsylvania “did not show levels of contamination that could present a health concern.”

The agency began testing the water in January, over a month after the state Department of Environmental Protection permitted Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. to stop delivering replacement water to almost a dozen families.

The EPA said water samples from six of the 11 homes for which it received initial test results showed sodium, methane, chromium or bacteria, but at levels that did not exceed primary or secondary drinking water standards. Arsenic was found in the well water of two homes, but at levels that did not present a health hazard, regulators said.

Many residents of Dimock were unsatisfied with these findings. Scott Ely, one of the plaintiffs suing Cabot said, “We’ve had hundreds of tests done out here, and we’ve had so many different scientists say you have bad water here, there’s not a doubt about it. And yet when the state and feds test our water, they say we can drink it. Absolutely not.”

On the other hand, Cabot issued a statement that said it is pleased by the test results and will continue to stay committed to environmental stewardship.

Marcellus Shale catalyzing job growth, study finds

Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling has had a measurable effect on Pennsylvania’s economy and could generate more than 200,000 additional jobs by 2020, according to a study released on Monday by Wells Fargo economists.

See article here.

Pa. study: Where have all the cows gone?

According to researchers at Penn State’s College of Agriculture and Sciences, evidence has suggested there may be a link between natural gas development and a drop in dairy production in the Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale region.

Reports have indicated that natural gas development in the region has caused farmers in the area to leave agriculture altogether once they receive money from gas industries. At the moment this is mere speculation, because there is little existing data that measures natural gas development’s real impact on agriculture, Farm and Dairy reports.

Timothy Kelsey, professor of agricultural economics, examined county-level changes in dairy cattle numbers and milk production between 2007 and 2010. Kelsey found that changes in dairy cattle seem to be associated with drilling activity.

“Counties with 150 or more Marcellus Shale wells on average experienced a nearly 19 percent decrease in dairy cows, compared to only a 1.2 percent average decrease in counties with no Marcellus wells,” he said.

Kelsey thinks it is important to be aware of how fracking affects farming because agriculture plays such a large economic, environmental and social role in the Marcellus region.

Kelsey is adamant that additional research must be completed to find conclusive answers. He believes the research should investigate whether farmers who receive lease and royalty payments use gas-related income to improve their farms, or simply abandon them.

More drilling near schools in low-income areas, study finds

Researchers in Denton, Texas have found that ‘socially vulnerable’ areas tend to have more gas wells near schools, according to the Denton Record-Chronicle.

According to the Texas Railroad Commission, more than 15,300 wells have been drilled in the Barnett Shale. Chetan Tiwari, geography professor, and his student, Nathaniel Smith, conducted an analysis of the proximity of gas wells to schools and other public spaces in Barnett Shale neighborhoods. Tiwari was interested to see if there are any patterns in the affected communities.

Tiwari used a social vulnerability index scale, which considers social measures such as unemployment rates and language barriers to examine the risk for a social disaster in response to man-made hazards, to generate measurements for the study.

Findings show that inner-city neighborhoods and their elementary schools are the most vulnerable on the index, but no more likely to have gas wells near their schools than more affluent neighborhoods with lower vulnerability scores. Tiwari said a possible explanation for this is that inner-city neighborhoods are already densely populated and have little room for gas wells.

The study also found that those neighborhoods of medium social vulnerability are far more likely to have gas wells as close as 500 feet to their elementary schools. While some school districts require certain distances between gas wells and schools, Denton County has no existing policy. This makes children the most vulnerable population in the area.

Tiwari and Smith encountered many flaws with the Texas Railroad Commission’s data throughout their study. The commission reported sites where there were no gas wells, and researchers also found gas wells absent from the state agency’s records.

Study finds fracking wells leak more than we thought

A new study found that fracking wells in Colorado leak about twice as much gas into the atmosphere as originally estimated. Because natural gas is comprised of methane, even fairly small leaks can have an enormous impact on global warming.

Research measurements suggest that about 4 percent of methane in the wells was leaking, while earlier studies done by the Environmental Protection Agency concluded only 1 to 2 percent was lost.

This research was carried out by a team of scientists and professors from the University of Colorado Boulder. The findings will be published in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Geophysical Research.

In response to this study, wells in the Denver-area have already made some changes that ought to cut down on the gas leakage.

Natural gas rig (Photo credit: jermlac)

Review says rules need to be updated in N.C. before fracking is allowed

According to the Associated Press, a review team said the environmental agency of North Carolina must modify regulations if the state decides to allow fracking.

The report, which was issued on Tuesday, compared state fracking regulations to the national guidelines and concluded that, if drilling is approved in North Carolina, new statutes would have to be issued.

Last year, the state Legislature passed a law to further investigate fracking. Since then, the state has had no oil or gas production. All wells have been plugged. They will continue to be inactive until the vote on May 8.

New study predicts increased use of natural gas will make climate change worse

A recent study at Cornell University concluded that the amount of greenhouse gas emissions (especially methane) resulting from extracting gas from shale reserves is astronomical—and would ultimately make climate change worse, not better.

Supporters of fracking argue that the process is a cleaner alternative, but this study proves their argument invalid, TreeHugger reports. The authors write in the study, which will be published in Climatic Change, “The large GHG footprint of shale gas undercuts the logic of its use as a bridging fuel over coming decades, if the goal is to reduce global warming.”

They elaborate by mentioning that the carbon footprint of shale gas extraction is even higher than that of oil or coal. Scientists have estimated that as much as 8 percent of methane escapes into the atmosphere, which makes for a much worse footprint (methane is much more powerful than carbon dioxide).

Gas well blazing, methane emissions

This study is not the first of its kind, but it fortifies past research.