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.
The need to frack
Hydraulic fracturing itself is not a new technology, but widespread use for natural gas production didn’t kick in until around 2000, after which it took off in a big way. Rising demand for natural gas combined with impressive technological advances in directional drilling opened the door to vast stores of natural gas locked in shale layers, which otherwise hold onto the gas too tightly for it to flow into production wells.
Burning natural gas for energy produces less pollution and less greenhouse warming than coal. It’s been proposed as a bridge towards renewable domestic energy production, most notably by Texas oil (and natural gas) billionaire T. Boone Pickens. If we want to kick the fossil fuel habit, the argument goes, natural gas is our nicotine patch.
As production grew, however, reports of groundwater contamination began to draw attention. Fracking injection fluid contains a variety of chemicals that alter the viscosity of the liquid and protect the well from corrosion, among other things. Some of those chemicals would be harmful if they found their way into groundwater, but the fracking industry denies that there is any danger of that occurring.
The emotionally powerful stories in the 2010 documentary Gasland fueled the controversy; so did YouTube videos of homeowners turning their kitchen faucets into flamethrowers. The controversy has pitted cleaner-burning domestic fuel against poisoned water, with both sides boldly claiming high stakes.