Printer-friendlyEmail to friend

By Travis Mitchell

Hydraulic fracturing is being spoken about in some quarters, including the media, as the next great hope for weaning America off foreign oil and making the U.S. energy-independent. It is a process that involves extracting natural gas from underground pockets and is commonly referred to as “fracking.”

While fracking provides access to valuable new sources of energy, it also has the potential for negative environmental side effects. As this process becomes more common, the need to understand its benefits and consequences becomes more important for everybody—those who provide drinking water for their communities and other citizens who consume it.

Fracking is used by natural gas companies to retrieve gas from underground formations of coal and shale. It can also be used to extract oil. Gas is retrieved by pumping a high-pressured mix of water and chemicals into the ground, which loosens up and stimulates natural gas that has been trapped beneath the earth. This high-pressure liquid creates fractures in the rock, which are then kept open by injecting a chemical propping agent. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that shale gas will comprise 20 percent of the total U.S. gas supply by 2020.

Fracking is causing concern among environmental groups because of the potential harm it can cause to drinking water resources due to the lack of regulation of certain chemicals that can be injected underground. The Safe Drinking Water Act does not prohibit underground injection of chemicals or other agents required for oil or gas fracking operations.

The EPA recently began studying the impact of fracking operations on drinking water quality. The EPA hopes to produce findings by2012 and release a comprehensive report by 2014. More information on the EPA’s actions can be found found at http://water.epa.gov/type/groundwater/uic/class2/hydraulicfracturing/index.cfm.

A study by the independent news journal ProPublica found gas wells are being drilled in 22 states and that the number has increased 45 percent since 2004. ProPublica also cited a U.S. government source that estimated that gas companies will drill an estimated 32,000 gas wells annually by next year. This could mean 100 billion gallons of hazardous fluids being generated and disposed of each year, an average of 4 million gallons of water per well.

Democrats in the House of Representatives released a report on April 16 that identified 750 substances used during fracking operations from 2005 to 2009. These chemicals have the potential to enter the water table and the drinking water and wastewater system. You can find more information on the chemicals used in the fracking process by visiting http://www.fracfocus.org/, a registry for hydraulic fracturing chemicals compiled bya joint project of the Ground Water Protection Council and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission.

Aside from possible drinking water pollution, fracking operations have also been suspected in relation to an increase in earthquakes near injection wells in Arkansas. Residents in central Arkansas have experienced more than 1,000 earthquakes since September, according to the Arkansas Geological Survey’s Scott Ausbrooks, a geo-hazards supervisor. Residents have voiced concerns to the local Survey office that the earthquakes could be the side effects of fracking.

The Associated Press reported on April 22 that two natural gas exploration companies have agreed to extend shutdowns of two injection wells near the area while researchers study whether the operations are linked to the earthquakes. The shutdowns came after the largest quake to hit the state in 35 years took place on February 27, 2011, near Guy, Arkansas.The gas companies have asked to postpone a hearing on the shutdowns until the next Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission meeting on May 24. Ausbrooks said in the AP article that it’s too soon to say if the quakes are related to the injection wells, but that scientists are ready to show their research to the commission at the May meeting.

Given the possible effects on drinking water, infrastructure and overall personal and community health, hydraulic fracturing is becoming an environmental concern. In addition to suspending its operations in Arkansas, Chesapeake Energy Corp., the second-largest natural gas producer in the U.S., has suspended fracking operations in Pennsylvania until it can research the cause of a recent fracking failure.

It is important for water utilities to monitor any fracking operations near their communities and for leaders and residents to educate themselves about any effects.