Profs: Wells Pose Threat
Fracking lets loose uranium, other hazards
Wheeling Intelligencer
20
November 2010
By Casey Junkins
PITTSBURGH - With the potential to release uranium and other hazardous
materials, the process of Marcellus Shale drilling and hydraulic
fracturing must be tightly regulated, university professors said Friday.
During the "Health Effects of Shale Gas Extraction" conference at the
University of Pittsburgh - located in the city whose council this week
unanimously voted to outlaw Marcellus drilling within its boundaries -
professors from numerous institutions spoke of the dangers associated
with the process.
Jane Clougherty, Pitt professor of environmental and occupational
health, also noted some of the rural areas - such as those in Ohio,
Marshall, Wetzel and Tyler counties that are seeing increasingly more
drilling activity - may be used for the purpose of benefiting big
cities.
Many of the instructors, students and concerned residents in attendance
heard professors speak on the dangers of both drilling the deep and
horizontal wells required for Marcellus extraction, as well as the
fracturing, or "fracking," method used to break the shale to release
the gas. Tracy Bank, assistant professor of geology at the University
of Buffalo in New York, told the group, "Uranium is being mobilized by
the fracking process."
"Concentrations are fairly low," she said of uranium's presence in the
water used to frack a well. "But they are high enough that it should
not be treated like your drinking water."
Though Bank said she does not consider uranium to be radioactive in
terms of her research, she noted the element's toxicity can lead to
liver and kidney damage in humans.
"Anything coming out of a hole should be tested before it ends up in
the water supply," Bank added.
Michel Boufadel, professor of civil and environmental engineering at
Temple University in Philadelphia, Pa., said the fracking solution is
pumped down into the wells with a force as high as 10,000 pounds per
square inch. The fracking cocktail, though mostly water, consists of
varying levels of sand and chemicals.
"The brine is six times more concentrated than sea water, and heavier
than fresh water," he said of the water left over from fracking.
Dan Bain, assistant professor of geology at Pitt, and Radisav Vidic,
professor of environmental engineering at Pitt, expressed concern about
drilling for gas in areas throughout West Virginia and Pennsylvania
because of the region's great history of coal production.
"Pennsylvania is filled with abandoned coal mines. I don't want to see
this happen with gas drilling," Bain said.
"Most of the companies are used to drilling in Texas," Vidic added of
firms such as Chesapeake Energy, Range Resources and many others. "They
don't have coal mines in Texas."
An AB Resources well site about 6 miles outside Moundsville's city
limits was home to a June 7 explosion, due to workers breaching a
pocket of methane in an old coal mine. After injuring several workers,
the charge ignited a large fireball that burned for several days.
John Veil, manager and senior scientist at the Argonne National
Laboratory, described fracking as "a very violent action" that requires
as much as 5 million gallons worth of water for each well.
He noted that most drilling companies now recycle as much of this water
as possible.
"Region wide, there is ample water to support the Marcellus drilling,"
Veil said, though admitting there may be some local problems if too
much water is drawn from a single source at any one time.
When one of the audience members then accused him of "representing the
industry," Veil responded he now works for the U.S. Department of
Energy.
Clougherty said natural gas represents a new opportunity for clean
energy use in New York City.
"What presents an environmental hazard at the extraction level presents
an opportunity for cities like New York," she said.
Clougherty added increased truck traffic in rural areas results in
higher diesel emissions, noting, "Diesel exhaust may make us more
susceptible to allergens."
Earlier this year, several Wetzel County residents complained to the
West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection that they believed
dust and emissions from shale drilling were making them sick.
Department officials, however, said there was no evidence of heavy
emissions in the area.