Dear Shale Protestor,

So what exactly is the risk that shale development poses to drinking water?

The short answer is there is none. 

The longer, but more accurate answer is: there is no risk to drinking water if the wells are properly constructed, if the water used to drill and fracture is properly sourced when it is put into the ground, and if the water that flows back and is produced is properly treated when it comes out of the ground.

So let's examine the conditional statements one at a time in order.

1. Well Construction

Regulations exist for every step of this process.  They vary by state.  In states with a history of oil and gas development, well construction regulations are well defined, no pun intended, and have been for a long time.  In states with less history of oil and gas development, regulations are being rewritten to make sure that they provide the necessary protection.  New York, for example, if it goes forward with high volume hydraulic fracturing, will require two strings of casing cemented through the aquifer.

2. Source Water (Water Going Into the Ground)

Sourcing water for well fluids has been the subject of much scrutiny.  I had the pleasure of speaking with John Veil, head of Veil Environmental Engineering and former Manager of the Water Policy Program in the Environmental Science Division of Argonne National Laboratory, who just last week made a presentation on this topic at the Society of Produced Water’s January conference in Houston, TX.  His estimates show that expected aquifer use for shale development is minimal compared to existing large users like electric power generation, irrigation, livestock and drinking water supply.  As industry works to recycle drilling and fracture fluids, there will be less demand for water and less potential for stress on the aquifer.

So that leaves the one concern that my East Coast friend voiced, which is legitimate in my opinion.  Where does all that water go when it comes back out of the ground?  This is really two questions:  Where does the flowback water go?  Where does the produced water go?

3. Flowback Water (Initial Water Coming Out of the Ground)

Flowback water is handled in three ways.  It is recycled, injected underground or treated and disposed of by a treatment plant. Recycling is a great option and companies are innovating constantly to do more of it. Underground injection is also a useful option, especially in the early going because it is highly regulated (beyond reproach) and readily available, although expensive. 

Option 3: treating and disposing of flowback using publically owned treatment works (POTWs) has not worked very well.  Pennsylvania tried it, but the public outcry was enormous.  POTWs are designed to take in wastewater and separate it into solids, which are sold as fertilizer or landfilled, and clean water, which is discharged into surface water via a federal permit (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System - NPDES - permit). 

Even though POTWs are designed to treat all kinds of things mixed into water like solvents, pesticides, paint, grease (such as food oil from restaurants), lead, copper, PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyl), benzene  and PERC (a dry cleaning fluid), the public is not convinced that they can handle flowback water.  The New York Times ran a series of articles, written by Ian Urbina, which called this practice into question, and that is when all the shouting started, common sense shut down and shale development took a black eye.

OK, so take option 3 off the table.  Pennsylvania effectively has because they banned flowback treatment at 15 POTWs.  It’s too bad because it was a source of income for the POTWs and cost savings for the ratepayers, but in a way, I agree with my friend.  The risks are too high, especially the risk of endless controversy.

That leaves just one unanswered question.  What happens to the water associated with the production of hydrocarbons which is unavoidable, produced water?

4. Produced Water (Water Coming Out of the Ground Over the Lifetime of the Well)

My last blog pointed out that oil and gas companies are highly skilled at processing produced water and using it in ways that have negligible environmental impact.  They have to be because many of them are really produced water companies, handling 10 barrels of water for every barrel of hydrocarbon in aggregate in the United States (individual company figures will vary widely). 

But here’s the real point I want to make.  For physical reasons, most hydraulically fractured shale wells will produce very little water and are expected to produce very little water over the life of the well.  Basically the gas molecules, which are very small, will flow, but the water molecules, which are large, will be blocked. 

All that nasty water which produced water companies -- I mean the oil and gas industry -- process every day could be a relic of the past … if we develop the shale.   That’s a game changer.

Till Next Time,

Energy Mom

New York, New York