Proceed with Caution

Trying to reduce our country’s dependence on overseas oil has led to the development of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. The fracking process blasts a cocktail of chemicals and huge amounts of water into shale deposits, which releases natural gas and oil from the rock. Fracking creates concern on two fronts: one, the contamination of surface, ground, and drinking water; and two, the loss of millions of gallons of fresh water from the water cycle.

Recently, the drinking water of three Pennsylvania homes was found to contain trace amounts of fracking fluid. While the amounts of contamination at these home were under levels that would cause health effects, “‘These findings are important because we show that chemicals traveled from shale gas wells more than 2 kilometers (1.25 miles) in the subsurface to drinking water wells,’ says Susan Brantley, a Penn State University professor of geosciences.” This raises the question, how far can fracking contamination migrate into aquifers and other #freshwater sources?

Fracking wastewater management is our second concern. #Fracking wells use between one and five million gallons of local fresh water. These amounts stress the surface and groundwater supplies available. “Up to 60% of the water injected into a wellhead during the fracking process will discharge back out of the well shortly thereafter, as flowback wastewater. Thereafter, and for the life of the wellhead, it will discharge up to 100,000 gallons (378 m3/day) of wastewater. This wastewater needs to be captured, and disposed of or recycled,” according to an article by Jeff Easton on the Waterworld website (emphasis added). This significant increase of contaminated #hydraulicfracturing wastewater requires a long term solution for its treatment, recycle, or reuse.