Hydraulic Fracturing May Have Unintended Consequences

 

see also: More Than 1,000 Marcellus Shale Violations Reported

Editor's note: This article was originally published on this blog on August 28, 2009.

But no direct link found between polluted water wells

and natural gas drilling

An EPA study done this year in Wyoming "found chemical contaminants in drinking water wells near natural gas drilling operations, fueling concern that a gas-extraction technique is endangering the health of people who live close to drilling rigs," according to Reuters News Agency. The gas-extraction technique, used by about 90 percent of gas drilling operations, is called hydraulic fracturing or "fracking." The EPA study was released on August 11.

There are currently 80 companies operating oil and gas activities locally in the Allegheny National Forest, according to a report by James Decker, the president of the Warren County Chamber of Business and Industry.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has advised families in Wyoming with contaminated water wells not to drink the water, which in some cases was black and oily, with a petroleum-like sheen, and a smell of gas, according to Reuters.

So far, the EPA has tested only 11 wells in Wyoming and has not reached a conclusion about the cause of contamination, the Reuters report said.

A 2004 study by the EPA concluded that the injection of hydraulic fracturing fluids posed little or no threat to drinking water and additional studies were not justified, according to the EPA website. Complaints from Wyoming residents resulted in the new study, which is ongoing.

In 2005, hydraulic fracturing was exempted from the Safe Drinking Water Act.

However, a video report released in January, seen below, from FLYP magazine calls that exemption into question:

Pennsylvania ranks second only to Texas in the number of producing gas wells in the country. Texas has 76,436 producing gas wells and Pennsylvania currently has 52,700, according to ProPublica. Many more are planned here in the Marcellus Shale gas field in the near future. Approximately 90 percent of all gas drilling projects make use of hydraulic fracturing, according to FLYP magazine. A federal judge in Erie, Pennsylvania is currently considering allowing the permitting of gas and oil drilling in the Allegheny National Forest, without EPA approval, due to what plaintiffs call irreparable economic damage caused by a lengthy federal permitting process.

Whether you are a businessman or an outdoors advocate, people in Warren County have a lot at stake in the judge's decision. It may be one of the hottest potatoes in the country right now.

--news compilation and analysis by Chris Lareau, editor Allegheny Almanac

See related posts:

de facto Eminent Domain in the Allegheny National Forest

and

Allegheny National Forest to Spend Stimulus Money on Forest Road Building

 

and

 

Pennsylvania: The "Saudi Arabia" of Natural Gas

Comments

[air jordans]

Cultured and fine manners are everywhere a passport to regard.what do you think?

[SANTANA19Tina]

People deserve wealthy life time and loans or short term loan will make it much better. Because freedom is grounded on money state.

[editor]

Editor's Note: The federal judge ruled in favor of the plaintiffs which probably means Marcellus Shale drillers may not need EPA approval.