Summary of US experience with fracking for oil and gas, with snapshots of shale development activity around the world
Explains how allowing widespread drilling and fracking in New York would fragment and degrade the states forests, destroying wildlife habitat and devaluing the ecosystem services the forests provide, including large scale filtering that provides clean water.
Report cites example of water well contamination by hydraulic fracturing fluids, and importantly states that investigation of other suspected cases of contamination was thwarted by the sealing of legal settlements between landowners and drilling companies.
N.B.: 1987 report had been buried and forgotten until an Environmental Working Group report published August 3, 2011, in conjunction with a New York Times story.
- Horwitt, Dusty. Environmental Working Group. “Cracks in the facade: 25 years ago, EPA linked ‘fracking’ to water contamination.” August 3, 2011.
- Urbina, Ian. “A tainted water well, and concern there may be more.” New York Times. August 3, 2011.
This report is a summary of the problems associated with the modern era of hydraulic fracturing in the US.
The study, published by the National Academy of Sciences, found that average methane concentrations in shallow drinking water in active gas drilling areas were 17 times higher than those in non-active areas. The methane concentrations of drinking water closest to active gas wells were considered potential explosion hazards.
The congressional investigations found that fracking fluids contained 750 chemicals, some of which were very hazardous to human health, including benzene and lead. Fracking fluids even included diesel fuel, which contains carcinogens such as benzene and toluene and is the only fracking chemical that requires a permit to inject into wells under Safe Water Drinking Act.
The investigative report highlights presence of high-levels of radioactivity (e.g., Radium 226) in fracking wastewater sent to treatment plants that are unequipped to remove many of its toxic materials, meaning partly treated waste was discharged into rivers, lakes and streams.
The review of Pennsylvania’s fracking water treatment revealed the state could not account for the disposal method of 1.28 million barrels of wastewater (one-fifth of the annual total) due to faulty reporting. Some drinking water utilities downstream from fracking wastewater facilities have struggled to sufficiently treat or remove trihalomethanes, which can cause cancer with chronic exposure and which likely resulted from high-levels of bromide in fracking wastewater.
Specifically addressed shortcomings in the New York Department of Environmental Conservation draft plan (of September 2009) for permitting shale gas development.