Effects
on Water
Millions
of gallons of water are used each time a well undergoes fracturing, of
particular concern in areas deemed under high water stress, meaning more than
eighty percent of available water supplies are already allocated for agriculture,
industrial, or municipal use (water needed for people in homes and businesses).
Many
are concerned about seepage from these wells into groundwater that goes into
public drinking water supplies and fresh water resources that livestock drink
from. Because of loopholes in clean water and confidentiality laws, companies
in some states don’t have to reveal what chemicals they use in their fracturing
process. This makes it more difficult to test for possible contaminants. Some
pollutants such as methane gas are naturally occurring in the rock and soil,
which can also skew test results.
Flowback
When
the desired petroleum and gas flow back up the well from fractures produced by
highly pressurized fluids, some of the fluid with its added chemicals flows
back as well. Different methods are used to handle it. Injecting it underground
(one hopes away from any possible contact with groundwater), sending it to
municipal or industrial waste water treatment plants, containing it at well
sites, and recycling it for the next fracturing process.
This
last one is expensive and time-consuming. With the increase of fracturing, many
municipal waste water treatment plants aren’t able to handle the volume. There
have been incidents of inadvertent spills that polluted the surface land,
sometimes a distance away from the well in cases of explosions. This also poses
air hazards.
Monday—the
difficulty of getting a straight answer.
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