Shale Gas Update: EPA links fracking, groundwater contamination
Posted on December 12, 2011 by John Sturm
Tags, History of CUB and General CUB News
We noted in our post on December 2nd that EPA has begun a national study on the impacts of fracking on drinking water and that the results of that study would likely be sometime in coming. Nothing has changed in that regard. However, EPA also began a much smaller study in Wyoming some time ago and, in the days since our blog post, has released a draft of their findings (PDF) in this more localized study.
It should be noted at the outset that the results of the investigation are preliminary, have yet to undergo peer review, and apply only to Pavillion, WY. Nevertheless, the findings are significant in that they appear to corroborate what environmentalists have long feared: Given the right circumstances, chemicals from fracking fluid can and do make their way into drinking water. The findings, as summarized in the press release are unequivocal:
“Chemicals detected in the most recent samples are consistent with those identified in earlier EPA samples and include methane, other petroleum hydrocarbons and other chemical compounds. The presence of these compounds is consistent with migration from areas of gas production. Detections in drinking water wells are generally below established health and safety standards. In the fall of 2010, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry reviewed EPA’s data and recommended that affected well owners take several precautionary steps, including using alternate sources of water for drinking and cooking, and ventilation when showering. Those recommendations remain in place and Encana has been funding the provision of alternate water supplies.”
Needless to say, the gas industry is not pleased with the EPA’s findings. Canadian gas giant Encana (owner of the wells covered in the study) had the following to say in response: “These preliminary conclusions do not stand up to the rigor of a non-partisan, scientific-based review […]” and “[c]onclusions drawn by the EPA are irresponsible given the limited number of sampling events on the EPA deep wells and the number of anomalies seen in the data.”
While the company is correct that the findings are not conclusive, they are likely to provide more fuel for the growing debate about the real environmental costs of shale gas extraction in the U.S and, so far, the science has not been tipping the scales in the industry’s favor.
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03/28/17 | 2 Comments | Shale Gas Update: EPA links fracking, groundwater contamination