Disclose Fracking Dangers, Federal Panel Urges
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
11 August 2011
By Erich Schwartzel
Natural gas companies should be required to disclose all chemicals used
in the hydraulic fracturing process, according to a Department of
Energy report released today that criticizes the industry for failing
to fully examine the possible environmental effects of drilling.
The hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, process used to extract natural
gas employs a controversial formula of chemicals that drillers have
said must remain protected for competitive reasons.
But "[T]he barrier to shield chemicals based on trade secret should be
set very high," said the report by the Secretary of Energy Advisory
Board Shale Gas Production Subcommittee.
Fracking fluid leakage into drinking water sources remains a "remote"
risk, the panel said, but "progress needs to be accelerated in light of
public concern."
Public concern over drinking water contamination, air pollution and
foggy information take precedent in the report, compiled after the
panel completed a 90-day listening tour that included a raucous public
meeting in Washington, Pa.
The committee, reporting to Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and
President Barack Obama, examined best practices in shale plays across
the country, including the Marcellus Shale that underlies much of
Appalachia.
Prior to the report's release, critics called the panel a sham, saying
the members' numerous ties to industry made a pro-drilling stance a
foregone conclusion. But the 41-page report repeatedly calls out an
industry the officials say hasn't explained itself or its impacts well.
Concerns over increased air pollution around a well site --
particularly an increase in methane levels -- led the committee to
recommend further examination into a May 2011 study that found higher
concentrations of methane in water around production sites in northern
Pennsylvania.
The cited study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy
of Science, found "systematic evidence for methane contamination of
drinking water associated with shale gas extraction" around Susquehanna
County.
"There's an awful lot we don't know about methane emissions from the
entire shale gas production process," said Kathleen McGinty, a member
of the panel and the former secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection.
The panel recommends implementing a "green completion" process that
traps methane and other air contaminants before they're released.
An overall examination of the greenhouse gas effect of shale drilling
should assess the industry's own carbon footprint, the report said, and
drillers should work toward weaning companies off diesel-fueled
machinery.
State and local authorities should also develop systems that measure
water quality before drilling occurs so any change in contamination
levels as a result of the process is recorded, the report said.
Regulation in place throughout the Marcellus region inspired some of
the national recommendations, Ms. McGinty said.
Pennsylvania practices that track water usage led the committee to
suggest drillers show "where water comes from, how much is used, how
the water is changed with the addition of the frack fluids," she said.
Another idea borrowed from Pennsylvania practices concerns drilling
near sensitive ecological areas, and the committee recommends 100-foot
buffer zones around high-quality water areas.
To consolidate available information on shale drilling, the panel
suggests an immediate $20 million be allocated to create a database on
wells and the chemicals they receive.
The report is the first of two to be submitted by the committee. The
next will come after another 90 days of listening to response to the
first report, Ms. McGinty said.
For now, the committee stays away from suggesting which federal, state
or local agents are the best candidates for implementing the
suggestions and instead looks at more big-picture recommendations.
"We stayed focused on the spinach," Ms. McGinty said.
That allowed the report to allude only once to the most divisive topic
in Harrisburg: whether to levy taxes or fees on the gas industry.
"Fees, royalty payments and severance taxes are appropriate sources of
funds to finance these needed regulatory activities," the report said.
Erich Schwartzel: eschwartzel@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1455.