Source: Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (TX), June 6, 2012
Posted on: http://envfpn.advisen.com
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, as it’s known, carries with it certain risks, but some experts say the benefits and dollars outweigh environmental concerns.
Fracking consists of injecting large amounts of water mixed with sand and chemicals at high pressure to break up rock formations far below the Earth’s surface to release gas and oil.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is looking into potential dangers related to the process, such as contaminated drinking water and air pollution.
The EPA is conducting a study to determine the impact of fracking on drinking water and should release preliminary findings later this year with a full study on tap for release by 2014.
Todd Anderson, a professor in the department of environmental toxicology and The Institute of Environmental and Human Health at Texas Tech, said the fluids used in fracking present some uncertainties.
“It’s primarily water,” he said. “A huge percent of it is water, but there are these other materials. … Then, there’s always the proprietary stuff. There’s some uncertainty there.”
Anderson believes some contamination from fracking fluids has seeped into groundwater, and it’s a result of the drilling technique.
But, he said, it would be erroneous to assume fracking is going to lead to groundwater contamination. It’s more of a process problem.
But enough is enough on regulation, some say.
In a statement issued in April to The Nation, Barry Russell, president of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, said, “Hydraulic fracturing has been widely implemented in the United States for nearly 65 years and has been used in over 1.2 million wells. During this time it has been regulated by the state and the federal government utilizing authorities provided by the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act among others. … This state-federal arrangement has brought about a successful track record of the technology’s use, a revival of U.S. energy production and massive economic benefits to our nation, its communities and consumers.”
Increased air pollution also is a concern.
During a stage of well completion known as “flowback,” fracturing fluids, water and sand or other chemicals and methane surface at a high speed and volume. This mixture also includes a lot of air toxins, said Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation.
But some industry experts have said the equipment needed to carry out the EPA’s recommendations to reduce air pollution is expensive, and at least one group, The American Petroleum Institute, has asked for an exemption for many wells across the nation.
The EPA didn’t grant an exemption, but an extension.
Bernard L. Weinstein, associate director, Maguire Energy Institute at the Southern Methodist University’s Cox School of Business, said, “Though the U.S. natural gas industry has safely managed the hydraulic fracturing process for more than 50 years, environmental activists and alternative-fuel lobbies have been hyping its risks for several years and pressuring the Obama administration to engage the Environmental Protection Agency in overseeing shale gas extraction. Yet, there is not one verifiable instance of properly performed hydraulic fracturing causing direct harm to communities or individuals.”