Fracking’s Threats to Drinking Water Call for a Precautionary Approach

7/27/2019 Frackings Threats to Drinking Water Call for a Precautionary Approach

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Posted Jul 1, 2013 byPosted Jul 1, 2013 byPosted Jul 1, 2013 byPosted Jul 1, 2013 by Sandra PostelSandra PostelSandra PostelSandra Postel ((((originallyoriginallyoriginallyoriginally posted by the National geographic)posted by the National geographic)posted by the National geographic)posted by the National geographic)


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A Marcellus shale gas well operation in Scott Township, Pennsylvania. Photo credit: wcn247/Flickr

Creative Commons

At least one aspect of frackings risks to drinking water became a little clearer this week.

A study led by Rob Jackson of Duke Universitys Nicholas School of the Environment, and published in

the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that drinking water wells located within 1

kilometer of a shale gas well in a region of northeastern Pennsylvania are at high risk of contamination

with methane.

Fracking, shorthand for hydraulic fracturing, is the process of blasting water mixed with sand andchemicals deep underground at high pressure so as to fracture shale rock and release the gas it holds.

Colorless, odorless, and highly flammable, methane is the primary component of natural gas. It is not

regulated as a drinking water contaminant, but it poses potential health and safety hazards. If the gas

builds up in a basement or other confined space, for example, it can set off an explosion or start a fire. If

breathed in high enough concentrations, it can cause dizziness, headaches and nausea.

The risks of long-term exposure and of secondary water quality changes due to high levels of dissolved

methane are not known.

The research team analyzed 141 drinking water wells in northeastern Pennsylvanias gas-rich Marcellus

shale region and detected methane in 82 percent of them. For homes within 1 kilometer of a gas well,

the average methane concentration was six times higher than in water wells located further away.

Nearly 1 in 11 of the household wells analyzed had methane concentrations above the threshold level

set by the U.S. Department of Interior for immediate remediation; all but one of those drinking water

wells was within 1 kilometer of an active shale gas well.

By analyzing the isotopic signature of the gases, Jacksons team determined that the methane found in

the drinking water was of fossil origin, not from current biological activity. The presence of ethane and


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propane, constituents of natural gas that are not produced by microbes, also signaled that the

contamination was coming from nearby fracking operations.

Ethane was detected in 30 percent of the home water wells sampled, and concentrations of this gas

were 23 times higher on average for homes less than one kilometer from a fracking well.

Overall, our data suggest that some homeowners living


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into groundwater. And yet another is the contamination threat posed by the discharge of toxic

wastewater produced by fracking operations.

In all these cases, more scientific research is needed. Much of it requires that industry not only collect

and make available pre-fracking water quality data, but also release the names of the chemicals they are

using, instead of hiding them behind the veil of company secrets.

Ultimately, more transparent and safer fracking operations will benefit the industry as well as the

families living in fracking territory. Until the public has full confidence that its drinking water is being

safeguarded from contamination, it will continue to protest frackings expansion.

If hydraulic fracturing is as safe as its proponents claim, then the industry should welcome the scientific

studies needed to prove it so.

Until such studies are completed, the public is wise to call for precautionary measures including

moratoriums on fracking.

Originally published at National Geographic Newswatch

Fracking’s Threats to Drinking Water Call for a Precautionary Approach

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