Does fracking really contaminate water?
FACT: Fracking does NOT Contaminate Drinking Water The report found that there is “no evidence of widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water” as a result of the fracking process. Another study corroborated the EPA’s findings.
How does fracking affect Pennsylvania?
Already, fracking has contaminated drinking water supplies with benzene, toluene, formaldehyde and other dangerous contaminants; dumped under-treated wastewater in rivers and streams from the Monongahela to Neshaminy Creek; clear-cut our state forestland to make way for gas wells; and are crisscrossing the state with …
How much water does fracking contaminate?
According to a report published by the nonprofit environmental organization Earthworks (PDF), fracking produced 19 billion gallons of wastewater in North Dakota in 2018 alone. The risk to drinking water comes in two major ways.
Does fracking cause groundwater contamination?
In fact, scientists and researchers from governmental organizations, universities, and nonprofits confirm that fracking does not contaminate groundwater.
What happens to water used in fracking?
Most of the water and additives used in hydraulic fracturing (or “fracking”) remain deep underground in the geologic formation from which the oil or gas is being extracted. In other cases, the water is clean enough to meet regulatory standards and is discharged into local watersheds.
Why is fracking exempt from Clean Water Act?
Fracking is exempted from the Safe Drinking Water Act pollution control measures unless diesel is used in the fracking process. Oil and gas operations are exempt from important permitting and pollution control requirements of the Clean Water Act, including the stormwater runoff permit requirement.
Is fracking being done in Pennsylvania?
In Pennsylvania, since 2008, about 12,400 gas-fracking wells have popped up in about half of the state, in the northeastern, northcentral and southwestern parts. The Pennsylvania Game Commission, which is an independent state agency, has leased approximately 150,000 acres of game lands for fracking.
Is fracking good for Pennsylvania?
For starters, while fracking has become politically toxic on the state and national level, a majority of Pennsylvania voters actually oppose it. This, as we will see, is no surprise given the mixed economic impact and severe consequences for social impacts, public health, environmental quality, and climate stability.
What happens to the water after fracking?
Most of the water and additives used in hydraulic fracturing (or “fracking”) remain deep underground in the geologic formation from which the oil or gas is being extracted. Produced water is often disposed of by injecting it into deep geologic formations via wells that are specifically designed for that purpose.
Does fracking make water flammable?
For the first time, a peer-reviewed scientific study has linked natural gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing with a pattern of drinking water contamination so severe that some faucets can be lit on fire.
Does fracking remove water from the water cycle?
Though some of the water used for fracking is recycled, most of it is disposed deep underground, almost entirely removed from the water cycle and never to be used again.
How do you dispose of fracking water?
Because federal regulations prohibit the discharge of shale gas wastewater directly from a production site into surface waters, fracking well operators in the northeast generally have three options for managing their contaminated fracking wastewater: (1) having the water treated to remove the contaminants then …
How common are oil and gas related water violations in PA?
Since 2007, at least 2,800 water-related complaints have been investigated by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Oil and Gas Program. Officials found ties to the drilling industry in 279. Another 500 or so cases, including the Eakins’, are open.
Is fracking causing water pollution in Cross Creek Township?
Before significant drilling began in the area in 2008 he had tested only for bacteria, not pollutants commonly associated with fracking. In addition to the one filed by the Eakins, the DEP received at least six water-related complaints from Cross Creek Township in 2009. One resident reported water that looked like tea.
Are fossil-fuel interests to blame for Pennsylvania’s ‘shale drilling crisis?
In a news release, Josh McNeil of the voters group blamed “corrosive ties” between fossil-fuel interests and legislators for the “recent disruption of longstanding efforts to create cleaner air and water for the people of Pennsylvania . . .” Around 2005, energy companies began drilling natural gas wells into America’s vast shale deposits.
Did DEP investigate complaints about fracking in the woodlands?
The DEP investigated 12 complaints from the Woodlands made within a year and found no ties to fracking in any of the cases. After the Connoquenessing Township water drive closed down for a month, residents tried to fit as much water as possible into their cars.