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The safety of fracking for local drinking water resources remains a contentious issue. While some studies suggest that the risks can be managed through proper regulation and monitoring, others highlight significant concerns about groundwater contamination and the accumulation of toxic elements. Continued research and interdisciplinary collaboration are essential to develop sustainable practices and ensure the protection of vital water resources.
Hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, has revolutionized the extraction of unconventional oil and gas resources, particularly in shale formations. While it has significantly boosted energy production, it has also raised concerns about its potential impact on local drinking water resources. This article explores the safety of fracking in relation to groundwater and drinking water contamination, drawing on findings from multiple research studies.
Potential Risks to Drinking Water
Groundwater Contamination
One of the primary concerns associated with fracking is the potential contamination of groundwater, which serves as a crucial source of drinking water. Contamination can occur through various pathways, including the leakage of fracking fluids and the migration of methane and other hydrocarbons into aquifers. A critical review of shale gas development in the U.S. identified four main risks to water resources: contamination of shallow aquifers with fugitive gases, surface water contamination from spills, accumulation of toxic elements in soil, and overextraction of water resources4.
Chemical Hazards
Fracking fluids contain a mixture of water, sand, and chemicals, some of which are hazardous. An assessment of fracking sites in Germany highlighted that while the dilution of fracking fluids in groundwater often results in concentrations below health-based reference values, the flowback water contains more problematic constituents, including heavy metals and radioactive elements1. This underscores the need for stringent monitoring and management of fracking operations to mitigate potential risks.
Surface Water Impacts
Surface water contamination can result from spills, leaks, and improper disposal of fracking wastewater. Studies have shown that areas with intensive shale gas development have experienced surface water impacts, including the accumulation of radium isotopes near disposal sites4. Additionally, the large volumes of water required for fracking can strain local water resources, particularly in arid regions6.
Case Studies and Regional Impacts
United States
In the U.S., the rapid expansion of shale gas development has led to public debates about the environmental and health impacts of fracking. Case studies from Louisiana’s shale plays indicate that while surface water resources appear to be sufficient to support fracking activities, groundwater resources are highly vulnerable, especially under aggressive future fracking scenarios9. This highlights the importance of using surface water over groundwater whenever possible to reduce stress on local water resources.
Germany
In Germany, an interdisciplinary study assessed the impact of fracking on groundwater quality. The study found that while the dilution of fracking fluids generally results in acceptable concentrations for drinking water, the flowback water poses a greater risk due to its higher concentrations of toxic constituents1. This finding emphasizes the need for comprehensive risk assessments and robust regulatory frameworks to protect drinking water resources.
Public Perception and Regulatory Responses
Public concerns about the safety of fracking have led to varying regulatory responses. For instance, despite a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report stating that fracking has not had a “widespread, systemic” impact on drinking water, the report was criticized for its vagueness and led to a ban on fracking in New York State due to health and environmental concerns10. This illustrates the ongoing debate and the need for clear, evidence-based communication about the risks and benefits of fracking.
Is ‘Fracking’ safe for local drinking water resources?
Greg Goss has answered Likely
An expert from University of Alberta in Toxicology, Hydrology
This is a quite complex process and perhaps not simple question and answer. “Fracking” is the process to break up the rock and release hydrocarbons. This process is the same as a “conventional” oil and gas well except for the ~week-long process to “stimulate” the well to make more oil flow using water that is pressurized. To encourage the well staying open, they add a fine sand (called a proppant) plus a mixture of chemicals. There is not “thousands” of chemicals as some claim, usually a mixture might contain 8-20 different additives that are are different for each well.
Most often, the drilling is a mile or more below and under many layers of rock, in these cases, and with new drilling techniques and well management, “fracking” has very low potential to contaminate groundwater for drinking water supplies. What happens after the well starts to produce is that a mix of water and oil and gas comes back, is separated and the oil/gas recovered. The remaining oil contaminated waste water has high salinity (salt), high oils plus a lot of metals and what ever is left from the chemicals put down there. In most places, this water is re-injected back down in another area (called a disposal well) and they inject it back 1-3 miles below ground. However, in a small but significant number of cases, something goes wrong such as a well casing cracking or a surface spills of the wastewater and the wastewater escapes where it can get into drinking water (either a river, lake or shallow groundwater). In some jurisdictions in US for example, they allow “fracking”wastewater to be applied to roads while in others, they allow it to be released to rivers, something I think needs to stop.
So the short answer is yes, it can be bad for drinking water, but normally/usually is not. If the oil and gas reserves are shallow, the potential for these chemicals to contaminate the groundwater increases. However, if the companies are using the more advanced water management techniques, more recent well design and monitoring techniques, and following proper disposal of wastes, “fracking” is as safe as most other industrial processes we allow (manufacturing releases, pesticides etc) and should not be a huge concern relative to the other risks we face.
Is ‘Fracking’ safe for local drinking water resources?
Ashley Bolden has answered Likely
An expert from The Endocrine Disruption Exchange in Endocrinology, Health, Environmental Science, Ecology
The answer to this question is that local drinking water is probably safe from nearby fracking – until something goes wrong. Well casings fail, spills and leaks happen, and wastewater is inappropriately discharged. Industry expects those events to occur, and we should too. Spill data from 31,481 wells across four states found 2-16% of wells reported a spill each year[1]. In 2017 alone, Colorado reported 619 spills totaling almost 600,000 gallons of oil and produced water that contaminated soil, ground, and surface water[2].
Keep in mind that wastewater from fracking operations, primarily what is called produced water, is coming to the surface for the life of the well, which can last for decades. Often well ownership changes hands during this time, making it difficult to pinpoint the responsible party should any of those expected events occur.
Local drinking water resources may come from surface water (e.g. rivers) or groundwater (e.g. aquifers, wells). Scientists have studied water collected near spill sites, at wastewater injection sites (in surface water), and in groundwater samples and found evidence of hormone disruption [3],[4],[5]. This included activity in estrogen, androgen, progesterone, glucocorticoid, and thyroid hormone receptor assays. One study of wastewater samples demonstrated toxicity and other effects in human kidney and rat liver cells, with some effects observed at very low concentrations[6]. Adverse health effects occur at extremely low concentrations of hormone disruption[7]. Therefore, the argument that it’s only a small amount of chemicals in a large volume of water is not an argument for safety.
In 2016, EPA completed a five-year study looking at the impacts of hydraulic fracturing on water resources. They concluded that localized fracking-related activities can contaminate drinking water resources. They added that there was not enough evidence to show “widespread systemic impacts” to the nation’s groundwater resources. In other words, fracking was not safe for the local drinking water resources they studied. Any claims that fracking is safe for drinking water resources must make the unreasonable assumption that nothing will ever go wrong.
[1] Patterson LA, Konschnik KE, Wiseman H, Fargione J, Maloney KO, Kiesecker J, Nicot J-P, Baruch-Mordo S, Entrekin S, Trainor A, et al. 2017. Unconventional oil and gas spills: risks, mitigation priorities, and state reporting requirements. Environ Sci Technol 51(5):2563-2573, doi: 10.1021/acs.est.6b05749.
[2] The Denver Post. Oil and gas industry spills increased by 17 percent around Colorado last year. Available at https://www.denverpost.com/2018/01/12/colorado-oil-gas-spills-increase/
[3] Kassotis CD, Tillitt DE, Davis JW, Hormann AM, Nagel SC. 2014. Estrogen and androgen receptor activities of hydraulic fracturing chemicals and surface and ground water in a drilling-dense region. Endocrinology 155(3):897-907, doi: 10.1210/en.2013-1697.
[4] Kassotis CD, Iwanowicz LR, Akob DM, Cozzarelli IM, Mumford AC, Orem WH, Nagel SC. 2016. Endocrine disrupting activities of surface water associated with a West Virginia oil and gas industry wastewater disposal site. Sci Total Environ 557-558:901-910, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.03.113.
[5] Kassotis CD, Vu DC, Vo PH, Lin C-H, Cornelius-Green JN, Patton S, Nagel SC. 2018. Endocrine-disrupting activities and organic contaminants associated with oil and gas operations in Wyoming groundwater. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol doi: 10.1007/s00244-018-0521-2.
[6] Crosby LM, Tatu CA, Varonka M, Charles KM, Orem WH. 2018. Toxicological and chemical studies of wastewater from hydraulic fracture and conventional shale gas wells. Environ Toxicol Chem doi: 10.1002/etc.4146.
[7] Vandenberg LN, Colborn T, Hayes TB, Heindel JJ, Jacobs DR, Jr., Lee DH, Shioda T, Soto AM, vom Saal FS, Welshons WV, et al. 2012. Hormones and endocrine-disrupting chemicals: low-dose effects and nonmonotonic dose responses. Endocr Rev 33(3):378-455, doi: 10.1210/er.2011-1050.
Is ‘Fracking’ safe for local drinking water resources?
Jean-Pierre BIRAT has answered Likely
An expert from IF Steelman in Environmental Science
Again, an ill-posed question! If I find too many of these on this site, I will stop bothering with providing answers!
There were instances, in the US, where the water table was indeed polluted. However, there are reasons to believe that proper design of the fracking procedure should make sur that this does not happen.
This requires strict regulations and careful verification, which clearly was not in place then and there!
Anyway, exploiting tight gas by fracking is probably the wrong thing to do in light of what is happening with Global Warming, which seems to have gotten out of hand.