The US is producing more energy due to new and controversial exploitation of oil and gas rich shale-rock formations. Seen today in the WSJ, the US looks to be the worlds largest producer of oil and natural gas.
Churning out roughly 22 million barrels of oil per day comes with a price tag that many do not want to talk about. The documentaries Gasland and Gasland 2 highlight some of the issues residents are facing due to an increase in drilling and prompts people to support a bill to amend the Safe Drinking Water Act called the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act.
Politics aside, a study published in Environmental Science & Technology, looks at the safe disposal of fracking wastewater. Fracking relies on a mixture of water, sand, and chemicals to assist in the breakdown of relatively porous rocks to free gas and oil. The wastewater can be left down in the well, pumped up to sit in reservoirs, or treated at local wastewater facilities and discharged.
Looking at water quality, discharged effluents from facilities, and stream sediments in Pennsylvania researchers found higher levels of ions, importantly radioactive radium. Most water treatment facilities are good and removing significant concentrations of toxic components, however we are bringing up radioactive elements that are buried deep underground and exposing them to the environment, which poses a danger to many ecosystems. Modern treatment plants were not set up to handle such an increase in radioactive elements, and increased effort needs to be focused on removing such compounds from wastewater.
Tagged: Environmental Science & Technology, fracking, natural gas, oil and gas, radioactive elements, Safe Drinking Water Act, wastewater, water, water quality
