EPA fracking investigation in Wyoming revisited after objections

EPA workers in protective gear obtain samples for studying groundwater contamination in Pavillion, Wyoming.

US EPA

In December of last year, Ars reported on a major EPA study in Pavillion, Wyoming that concluded hydraulic fracking operations there had contaminated the groundwater aquifer. While there wasn’t a clear link to contamination detected in some shallow private water wells, EPA believed that the deeper contamination was very likely related to fracking. This determination came primarily from two deep monitoring wells that EPA had installed for the investigation.

Encana, the gas exploration company that owned the natural gas wells, disagreed vehemently. They asserted that EPA had drilled monitoring wells into a zone where gas was naturally present. As for the other compounds EPA detected in the wells, which were known to be components of fluids used during fracking, Encana said these were likely introduced into the aquifer during the drilling of the monitoring wells. EPA had foreseen this objection, and went to great lengths to avoid contaminating the monitoring wells, but Encana was not satisfied.

In the end, the EPA, the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the Wyoming Geological Survey, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, and the Wyoming Water Development Office met to discuss these objections. They decided that the EPA and USGS would carefully re-sample the deep monitoring wells to verify the results EPA had gotten previously.

Read 5 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Fracked Pennsylvania shale could be naturally leaky

A fracking rig targets the Marcellus Shale.

Wikimedia Commons

Hydraulic fracturing—fracking—for natural gas has revolutionized the energy industry in many places, including the United States. The pushback over contamination concerns has been a prevailing storyline in the public eye. This possibility has been viewed as unlikely, though, as the shale gas layers being fracked are typically several thousand feet deeper than any aquifers used for drinking water. Fractures would have to propagate tremendous distances, through a number of confining layers, to create a pathway for contamination.

The physics required to make something like that happen just aren’t there. In nature, however, it’s usually true that to consider something to be impossible is to be disappointed. And so the nagging question remained: what if there are already some pathways present through those confining layers?

In 2011, researchers from Duke University published results (open access) showing a correlation between methane concentrations in private water wells and proximity to local natural gas production wells in parts of Pennsylvania and New York. While that suggested the water well contamination could be related to recent fracking, it was not at all a sure thing. The work was controversial, too—triggering a string of comments and replies in the journal that published it.

Read 13 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Royal Society: fracking is safe, as along as it’s regulated

A UK review by the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering has concluded that fracking can be undertaken safely, as long as "best practices are implemented and robustly enforced through regulation."

Fracking (short for hydraulic fracturing) is a process where highly-pressurized liquid is fired into the ground, splintering rocks many hundreds of metres below the surface. Oil and gas escapes, which is then collected up for fuel.

"There has been much speculation around the safety of shale gas extraction following examples of poor practice in the US," said Robert Mair, chair of the review's working group. "We found that the most common areas of concern, such as the causation of earthquakes with any significant impact or fractures reaching and contaminating drinking water, were very low risk."

Read 6 remaining paragraphs | Comments

EPA, Department of the Interior announce additional fracking oversight

Drafts of new regulations relating to hydraulic fracturing in natural gas production were released for public comment Friday. This follows on the heels of the new rules for air emissions released two weeks ago. The US Environmental Protection Agency announced new guidance for obtaining permits when diesel fuel is included as a component of the fracking fluid used to fracture source rocks and free the gas trapped inside. As we laid out in a previous story, a 2005 amendment to the Safe Drinking Water Act exempted fracking from regulation as an underground injection, except when diesel fuel is used. Despite that caveat, the industry continued using diesel fuel without reporting it, saying that the EPA had never explicitly provided a process for them to do so. That process is now laid out in the new guidance. This may become a moot point, however, as public pressure is forcing the industry to move to more innocuous alternatives.

The US Department of the Interior also announced new rules for fracking on federal and Indian land, greatly increasing oversight. Fracking must now be explicitly approved as part of the normal drilling permits companies apply for when operating on federal land. This will require them to submit details on the layers of rock they plan to frack and how they will manage and dispose of the spent fracking fluids. They will also have to submit documentation of tests performed to ensure integrity of the seal around the well before the actual fracking begins. After the process is complete, drillers will have to publicly disclose the chemicals used in the fracking fluid.

In the press release, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar says, “As we continue to offer millions of acres of America’s public lands for oil and gas development, it is critical that the public have full confidence that the right safety and environmental protections are in place. The proposed rule will modernize our management of well stimulation activities—including hydraulic fracturing—to make sure that fracturing operations conducted on public and Indian lands follow common-sense industry best practices.”

Several states (most notably Wyoming and Texas) already have some similar requirements on the books, and others may use the federal rules as a template in the future. The drafts of both the EPA guidance and DOI rules will be revised and finalized following the 60 day public comment period.

Read the comments on this post

EPA, Department of the Interior announce additional fracking oversight

EPA institutes new rules for emissions from fracking wells

The US Environmental Protection Agency announced new rules for air emissions from oil and natural gas wells yesterday. The rules affect the pipeline transport of natural gas as well as production, but are mainly focused on hydraulic fracturing operations. No federal standards had existed previously, though some states had instituted their own.

After fracking fluid is used to hydraulically fracture natural gas source rocks, some of it is returned to the surface when the invigorated natural gas flow picks up. During this “flowback” process, which lasts several days, large volumes of natural gas often escape before the well is ready for routine collection to begin. Between now and the start of 2015, natural gas producers will have to either capture this natural gas or burn it off. After that point, they will be required to capture it.

Burning this fugitive gas cuts down on emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), which include carcinogenic compounds like benzene, and converts high-greenhouse-impact methane into carbon dioxide. After capturing is required in 2015, the EPA estimates a decrease in greenhouse emissions equivalent to taking about 2 to 4 million homes off the electric grid. Emissions of the VOCs, which can cause local health hazards, should be cut by 95 percent under the new rules.

Although environmental rules are often criticized for costing companies money, these new ones should actually enhance their profits. Because the captured gas can subsequently be sold, the EPA estimates that the new rules will save the oil and gas industry $11 to $19 million per year despite the cost of the equipment required to comply. The Agency notes that a number of well drillers have already begun using this kind of capture technology.

In a press release, EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson said, “By ensuring the capture of gases that were previously released to pollute our air and threaten our climate, these updated standards will not only protect our health, but also lead to more product for fuel suppliers to bring to market.”

Read the comments on this post

Feature: How the EPA linked "fracking" to contaminated well water

Hydraulic fracturing (more commonly referred to as “fracking”) involves the injection of fluid at high pressure into a well, opening or widening fractures in the rock below that free up the flow of natural gas. Domestic natural gas production has been booming as a result, but opponents claim the technique contaminates drinking water, causing serious health effects.

Rigorous studies on fracking have been sparse, and the impassioned debate has raged on. A new investigation by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at a site in Wyoming is one of the first to look thoroughly at the potential link between fracking operations and groundwater contamination. The agency's report was released yesterday—and it provides a clear link between fracking and water supply problems.