Experts Trace Tainted Water to Leaky Wells, Not Fracking


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http://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/experts-trace-tainted-water-leaky-wells-not-fracking-n204061

Experts Trace Tainted Water to Leaky Wells, Not Fracking

The drilling procedure called fracking didn't cause much-publicized cases of tainted groundwater in areas of Pennsylvania and Texas, a new study finds. Instead, it blames the contamination on problems in pipes and seals in natural gas wells.

After looking at dozens of cases of suspected contamination, the scientists focused on eight hydraulically fractured wells in those states, where they chemically linked the tainted water to the gas wells. They then used chemical analysis to figure out when in the process of gas extraction methane leaked into groundwater. "We found the evidence suggested that fracking was not to blame, that it was actually a well integrity issue," said Ohio State University geochemist Thomas Darrah, lead author of the study. He said those results are good news because that type of contamination problem is easier to fix and is more preventable. The work was released Monday by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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This is not a new issue - there have been similar cases where reservoirs have been contaminated by gasoline (leaks from older tanks entering the city water system via similarly-leaky water-system pipelines) - three recent cases were in Washington, DC, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh.  Infrastructure neglect biting the nation in the bum - again!

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In hydraulic fracturing, water is pumped underground to break up shale at a depth far below the water table, he explained. The long vertical pipes that carry the resulting gas upward are encircled in cement to keep the natural gas from leaking out along the well. The study suggests that natural gas that has leaked into aquifers is the result of failures in the cement used in the well.

So it's not the fracking itself that causes the gasses to seep into the aquifier, it's the structure that supports the fracking that does it.

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