By Margaret Brewster
Millions of Americans have water purifiers tucked in their refrigerators to make their drinking water taste better and eliminate harmful contaminants. But not even the most advanced Brita filter can handle the latest infiltrator into U.S. drinking water supplies: methane.
You can’t see it or smell it. But methane is the principal component of natural gas and it’s highly combustible. In fact, it’s the same gas that caused Debby and Jason Kline’s tap water to catch fire this past winter in Ohio, as reported by NBC News.
The culprit behind this unsavory impurity is fracking. Fracking is shorthand for hydraulic fracturing, a process whereby large volumes of water, mixed with sand and chemicals, are injected into rock formations deep underground in order to unlock natural gas and oil trapped inside. (For a primer on fracking, see Earthworks’ Hydraulic Fracturing 101.)
Methane, ethane and propane, oh my!
In June 2013, scientists published a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences showing that drinking-water wells within a kilometer of high-volume fracking operations in Pennsylvania had methane concentrations an average of six times higher than in wells farther away. The study also found high concentrations of ethane and propane.
To some, the findings came as no surprise. Two years ago, Duke researchers also found high levels of methane in drinking-water wells near fracking, but were criticized by the oil and gas industry for not testing enough wells and neglecting to take into account natural sources of methane. (National Geographic’s article “Methane” is a must-read if you want to know more about the gas.)
The most recent study tested more than twice as many wells, and compared results from wells near fracking operations with those where no fracking has taken place.
While scientists know that accumulated methane in confirmed spaces can explode — two homes in Pennsylvania burst into flames in 2011 due to “migrating methane,” a disaster that was attributed to nearby natural gas extraction — we don’t yet know the long-term health effects of methane exposure.
But we’re likely to find out.
The case against fracking
Fracking has become a mainstream environmental concern, thanks in part to its publicity by celebrity critics such as Mark Ruffalo, Yoko Ono and Robert Redford and films such as the HBO documentaries “Gasland” and “Gasland II” and the Hollywood production “Promised Land.” The anti-fracking movement has even earned its own name: fractivism.
While industry representatives claim that fracking is clean, safe and beneficial in terms of the vast quantities of natural gas that can be extracted, critics have long contended that fracking depletes valuable water supplies, releases toxic chemicals into the air and water, poses numerous health and safety concerns and ultimately contributes to global warming. (Learn more about the study of climate change by hearing from modern scientists working in the field, like this paleoclimatologist.)
The research supports the critics, but it has been fairly localized to date. For example, one study found that oil and gas wells contributed to ozone pollution and propane in air in Weld County, Colo. Another found that people living within half a mile of fracking operations, also in Colorado, were exposed to pollutants five times above federal hazard standards. Still another found unhealthy levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the air near a natural gas pad.
Water, water everywhere nor any drop to drink
The need for more comprehensive research has led the EPA to conduct a study of the full lifespan of water in fracking operations to understand the potential impacts. A draft report is expected in 2014.
But an abundance of first-hand accounts suggest that drinking water is a main casualty in the scramble for cheap fuel. In July 2008, for example, a hydrologist discovered benzene, a chemical thought to cause leukemia, in a water well in Wyoming near natural gas drilling. It was concentrated at 1,500 times the level considered safe. There have been many stories like the Klines’, in which unsuspecting homeowners have found their drinking water suddenly bubbling from methane.
If you take a birds-eye look at the hydraulic fracturing process (this infographic from Greenpeace offers a good example), you can see where the problems can arise. Toxic fracking fluid that’s pumped into the earth can spill from pipes, open valves, and transport vehicles, contaminating groundwater. Natural gas and fracking fluid can leak through fissures in the shale and faulty casings and contaminate aquifers. Some fracking fluid remains in the ground where it does not biodegrade. That fluid can work its way up through fractures in the bedrock.
A further strain on water supplies comes from the sheer volume of water that fracking requires. For example, the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas draws as much as 15,000 acre-feet of water each year. Fracking operations such as these are frequently situated in areas where droughts have made water supplies scarce, stressing not only drinking water availability, but also water required for agricultural applications.
Know what’s in your water
If your water comes from a municipal source, you can probably be assured that it’s being carefully monitored. If you have a private well, it’s a good idea to get your drinking water tested on a regular basis.
No one knows how much research it will take to convince the federal government to curb fracking, but as attention continues to grow around this climate issue, it is likely that public health professionals will be called upon to take a leading role in advocating legislation and action to protect the public health. Environmental engineers and other environmental professionals may be called upon to find alternative means of recovering oil reserves deep in the earth: If you want to be on the frontline, consider furthering your education in public health and pursuing a role that could have you shaping the course fracking takes.
Margaret Brewster is a freelance writer and non-profit consultant.
Read more at http://livinggreenmag.com/2013/07/18/energy-ecology/fracking-our-water-supply-add-a-twist-of-lemon-but-hold-the-methane-please/#M1eGYAsVij4R2U3t.99
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