OH SNAP! Yale Study On Fracking Contaminating Drinking Water Finds Surprising Results

[Vigilante]

The Libertarian Republic ^
The Sierra Club should start printing retractions (something they’ve been getting a lot of practice doing), because researchers from Yale University have concluded that hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, doesn’t contaminate drinking water! “[There is] no evidence of association with deeper brines or long-range migration of these compounds to the shallow aquifers” concludes the new study, which was published in the highly prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. The study, the largest of its kind, sampled 64 private water wells near fracking sites to determine if they could be contaminated by fracking fluids. “[The chemicals] are likely not a...

 

[ABikerSailor]

Yeah.....................fracking doesn't cause problems with the well water. But then again, maybe you should watch the documentary "Gasland".

And yeah....................fracking might be safe in the eyes of some, but it seems to cause a whole lot of earthquakes when the waste water is pumped back into the ground.

OK has had 700 earthquakes in 2014. That's about 2 earthquakes a day, and they are all because of fracking.

 

[Freewill]

Yeah.....................fracking doesn't cause problems with the well water. But then again, maybe you should watch the documentary "Gasland".

And yeah....................fracking might be safe in the eyes of some, but it seems to cause a whole lot of earthquakes when the waste water is pumped back into the ground.

OK has had 700 earthquakes in 2014. That's about 2 earthquakes a day, and they are all because of fracking.

The process of fracking doesn't cause the Earthquakes:

Fracking is not the cause of quakes. The real problem is wastewater.


earthquakes, and the accompanying report links the earthquakes to injection wells used to dispose of fracking wastewater. Previous maps did not include earthquakes that are induced by human activities.

“We consider induced seismicity to be primarily triggered by the disposal of wastewater into deep wells,” said Mark Petersen, chief of the National Seismic Hazard Project for the U.S. Geological Survey, which released the maps last week.



A dramatic increase in earthquakes in Oklahoma has many people asking about the role of deep wells where oil and gas firms inject wastewater from extraction techniques such as hydraulic fracturing.
Wastewater wells are the issue
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, extracts far more water from these underground oil-laden rocks than traditional drilling. Currently there is no way to treat, store and release the billions of gallons of wastewater at the surface. Instead, drillers pump the fluid back underground, below groundwater, into wells where it sometimes triggers earthqua

Gas in wells, always been a problem, the movie more or less lied.

The Gasland movie: a fracking shame - director pulls video to hide inconvenient truths

But then a little digging reveals a few inconvenient facts. A 1976 study by the Colorado Division of Water found that this area was plagued with gas in the water problems back then. And it was naturally occurring.

As the report stated there was “troublesome amounts of methane” in the water decades before fracking began. It seems that in geographical areas gas has always been in the water.

But Josh Fox knew this and chose not to put it in Gasland.

I asked him about this omission at a recent screening at Northwestern University in Chicago.

 

[flacaltenn]

Yeah.....................fracking doesn't cause problems with the well water. But then again, maybe you should watch the documentary "Gasland".

And yeah....................fracking might be safe in the eyes of some, but it seems to cause a whole lot of earthquakes when the waste water is pumped back into the ground.

OK has had 700 earthquakes in 2014. That's about 2 earthquakes a day, and they are all because of fracking.

Immense amount of misinformation and fraud in "Gaslands". Never mentioned that most of those existed PRIOR to fracking. Those folks live on top of a NATURAL toxic waste dump.. Frackers are doing them a favor and DRAINING the gasfields.. Plenty of documentation of PAST levels of hydrocarbons in the air and water. And ancient pix of folks lighting streams on fire..

 

[ABikerSailor]

No, they didn't exist prior to fracking. The farmers used to have good land and water, now they don't.

 

[Old Rocks]

The Libertarian Republic ^
The Sierra Club should start printing retractions (something they’ve been getting a lot of practice doing), because researchers from Yale University have concluded that hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, doesn’t contaminate drinking water! “[There is] no evidence of association with deeper brines or long-range migration of these compounds to the shallow aquifers” concludes the new study, which was published in the highly prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. The study, the largest of its kind, sampled 64 private water wells near fracking sites to determine if they could be contaminated by fracking fluids. “[The chemicals] are likely not a...

Elevated levels of diesel range organic compounds in groundwater near Marcellus gas operations are derived from surface activities

1. Brian D. Drollettea,
2. Kathrin Hoelzerb,
3. Nathaniel R. Warnerc,
4. Thomas H. Darrahd,
5. Osman Karatume,
6. Megan P. O’Connore,
7. Robert K. Nelsonf,
8. Loretta A. Fernandezg,
9. Christopher M. Reddyf,
10. Avner Vengoshh,
11. Robert B. Jacksoni,
12. Martin Elsnerb, and
13. Desiree L. Plataa,1

Author Affiliations

1. Edited by Andrea Rinaldo, Ecole Polytechnique Federale Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland, and approved September 16, 2015 (received for review June 11, 2015)
   
   

Significance
Organic compounds found in drinking water aquifers above the Marcellus Shale and other shale plays could reflect natural geologic transport processes or contamination from anthropogenic activities, including enhanced natural gas production. Using analyses of organic compounds coupled with inorganic geochemical fingerprinting, estimates of groundwater residence time, and geospatial analyses of shale gas wells and disclosed safety violations, we determined that the dominant source of organic compounds to shallow aquifers was consistent with surface spills of disclosed chemical additives. There was no evidence of association with deeper brines or long-range migration of these compounds to the shallow aquifers. Encouragingly, drinking water sources affected by disclosed surface spills could be targeted for treatment and monitoring to protect public health.

Hmmmm................. So, their deep wells are not contaminating the near surface water, but their surface activities are. Gee whiz, golly whillikers, I feel so much better, the water is only being poisoned from above.

 

[Old Rocks]

Elevated levels of diesel range organic compounds in groundwater near Marcellus gas operations are derived from surface activities

1. Brian D. Drollettea,
2. Kathrin Hoelzerb,
3. Nathaniel R. Warnerc,
4. Thomas H. Darrahd,
5. Osman Karatume,
6. Megan P. O’Connore,
7. Robert K. Nelsonf,
8. Loretta A. Fernandezg,
9. Christopher M. Reddyf,
10. Avner Vengoshh,
11. Robert B. Jacksoni,
12. Martin Elsnerb, and
13. Desiree L. Plataa,1

Author Affiliations

1. Edited by Andrea Rinaldo, Ecole Polytechnique Federale Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland, and approved September 16, 2015 (received for review June 11, 2015)
   

Abstract
Hundreds of organic chemicals are used during natural gas extraction via high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF). However, it is unclear whether these chemicals, injected into deep shale horizons, reach shallow groundwater aquifers and affect local water quality, either from those deep HVHF injection sites or from the surface or shallow subsurface. Here, we report detectable levels of organic compounds in shallow groundwater samples from private residential wells overlying the Marcellus Shale in northeastern Pennsylvania. Analyses of purgeable and extractable organic compounds from 64 groundwater samples revealed trace levels of volatile organic compounds, well below the Environmental Protection Agency’s maximum contaminant levels, and low levels of both gasoline range (0–8 ppb) and diesel range organic compounds (DRO; 0–157 ppb). A compound-specific analysis revealed the presence of bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, which is a disclosed HVHF additive, that was notably absent in a representative geogenic water sample and field blanks. Pairing these analyses with (i) inorganic chemical fingerprinting of deep saline groundwater, (ii) characteristic noble gas isotopes, and (iii) spatial relationships between active shale gas extraction wells and wells with disclosed environmental health and safety violations, we differentiate between a chemical signature associated with naturally occurring saline groundwater and one associated with alternative anthropogenic routes from the surface (e.g., accidental spills or leaks). The data support a transport mechanism of DRO to groundwater via accidental release of fracturing fluid chemicals derived from the surface rather than subsurface flow of these fluids from the underlying shale formation.

By the way, that is a PNAS publication, not Yale, and the study was done by the Ecole Polytechnique Federale Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.

 

[Freewill]

Yeah.....................fracking doesn't cause problems with the well water. But then again, maybe you should watch the documentary "Gasland".

And yeah....................fracking might be safe in the eyes of some, but it seems to cause a whole lot of earthquakes when the waste water is pumped back into the ground.

OK has had 700 earthquakes in 2014. That's about 2 earthquakes a day, and they are all because of fracking.

Immense amount of misinformation and fraud in "Gaslands". Never mentioned that most of those existed PRIOR to fracking. Those folks live on top of a NATURAL toxic waste dump.. Frackers are doing them a favor and DRAINING the gasfields.. Plenty of documentation of PAST levels of hydrocarbons in the air and water. And ancient pix of folks lighting streams on fire..

If I had natural gas coming from my faucets I would be using a gas furnace to warm the house.

 

[Freewill]

No, they didn't exist prior to fracking. The farmers used to have good land and water, now they don't.

Gasland movie: a fracking shame - director pulls video to hide inconvenient truths

But then a little digging reveals a few inconvenient facts. A 1976 study by the Colorado Division of Water found that this area was plagued with gas in the water problems back then. And it was naturally occurring.

As the report stated there was “troublesome amounts of methane” in the water decades before fracking began. It seems that in geographical areas gas has always been in the water.

 

[Mr. H.]

The Libertarian Republic ^
The Sierra Club should start printing retractions (something they’ve been getting a lot of practice doing), because researchers from Yale University have concluded that hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, doesn’t contaminate drinking water! “[There is] no evidence of association with deeper brines or long-range migration of these compounds to the shallow aquifers” concludes the new study, which was published in the highly prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. The study, the largest of its kind, sampled 64 private water wells near fracking sites to determine if they could be contaminated by fracking fluids. “[The chemicals] are likely not a...

The EPA beat them to it.

 

[Mr. H.]

Elevated levels of diesel range organic compounds in groundwater near Marcellus gas operations are derived from surface activities

1. 
   
   
   • Brian D. Drollettea,
   • Kathrin Hoelzerb,
   • Nathaniel R. Warnerc,
   • Thomas H. Darrahd,
   • Osman Karatume,
   • Megan P. O’Connore,
   • Robert K. Nelsonf,
   • Loretta A. Fernandezg,
   • Christopher M. Reddyf,
   • Avner Vengoshh,
   • Robert B. Jacksoni,
   • Martin Elsnerb, and
   • Desiree L. Plataa,1

Author Affiliations

1. 
   
   
   • Edited by Andrea Rinaldo, Ecole Polytechnique Federale Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland, and approved September 16, 2015 (received for review June 11, 2015)

Abstract
Hundreds of organic chemicals are used during natural gas extraction via high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF). However, it is unclear whether these chemicals, injected into deep shale horizons, reach shallow groundwater aquifers and affect local water quality, either from those deep HVHF injection sites or from the surface or shallow subsurface. Here, we report detectable levels of organic compounds in shallow groundwater samples from private residential wells overlying the Marcellus Shale in northeastern Pennsylvania. Analyses of purgeable and extractable organic compounds from 64 groundwater samples revealed trace levels of volatile organic compounds, well below the Environmental Protection Agency’s maximum contaminant levels, and low levels of both gasoline range (0–8 ppb) and diesel range organic compounds (DRO; 0–157 ppb). A compound-specific analysis revealed the presence of bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, which is a disclosed HVHF additive, that was notably absent in a representative geogenic water sample and field blanks. Pairing these analyses with (i) inorganic chemical fingerprinting of deep saline groundwater, (ii) characteristic noble gas isotopes, and (iii) spatial relationships between active shale gas extraction wells and wells with disclosed environmental health and safety violations, we differentiate between a chemical signature associated with naturally occurring saline groundwater and one associated with alternative anthropogenic routes from the surface (e.g., accidental spills or leaks). The data support a transport mechanism of DRO to groundwater via accidental release of fracturing fluid chemicals derived from the surface rather than subsurface flow of these fluids from the underlying shale formation.

By the way, that is a PNAS publication, not Yale, and the study was done by the Ecole Polytechnique Federale Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.

Who invited you to the party?

 

[flacaltenn]

Elevated levels of diesel range organic compounds in groundwater near Marcellus gas operations are derived from surface activities

1. 
   
   
   • Brian D. Drollettea,
   • Kathrin Hoelzerb,
   • Nathaniel R. Warnerc,
   • Thomas H. Darrahd,
   • Osman Karatume,
   • Megan P. O’Connore,
   • Robert K. Nelsonf,
   • Loretta A. Fernandezg,
   • Christopher M. Reddyf,
   • Avner Vengoshh,
   • Robert B. Jacksoni,
   • Martin Elsnerb, and
   • Desiree L. Plataa,1

Author Affiliations

1. 
   
   
   • Edited by Andrea Rinaldo, Ecole Polytechnique Federale Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland, and approved September 16, 2015 (received for review June 11, 2015)

Abstract
Hundreds of organic chemicals are used during natural gas extraction via high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF). However, it is unclear whether these chemicals, injected into deep shale horizons, reach shallow groundwater aquifers and affect local water quality, either from those deep HVHF injection sites or from the surface or shallow subsurface. Here, we report detectable levels of organic compounds in shallow groundwater samples from private residential wells overlying the Marcellus Shale in northeastern Pennsylvania. Analyses of purgeable and extractable organic compounds from 64 groundwater samples revealed trace levels of volatile organic compounds, well below the Environmental Protection Agency’s maximum contaminant levels, and low levels of both gasoline range (0–8 ppb) and diesel range organic compounds (DRO; 0–157 ppb). A compound-specific analysis revealed the presence of bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, which is a disclosed HVHF additive, that was notably absent in a representative geogenic water sample and field blanks. Pairing these analyses with (i) inorganic chemical fingerprinting of deep saline groundwater, (ii) characteristic noble gas isotopes, and (iii) spatial relationships between active shale gas extraction wells and wells with disclosed environmental health and safety violations, we differentiate between a chemical signature associated with naturally occurring saline groundwater and one associated with alternative anthropogenic routes from the surface (e.g., accidental spills or leaks). The data support a transport mechanism of DRO to groundwater via accidental release of fracturing fluid chemicals derived from the surface rather than subsurface flow of these fluids from the underlying shale formation.

By the way, that is a PNAS publication, not Yale, and the study was done by the Ecole Polytechnique Federale Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.

Imagine that -- "Diesel level organic compounds" found in the vicinity of MASSIVE oil and gas reserves. Hold the presses --- we GOTTA run that story.. Trouble is -- ALL of the contaminants that have been blamed on fracking are NATURALLY occurring in HUGE quanities in those Mother Nature toxic dumps. Adding a barrel of benzene to the mix would be like pissing into a sewer.

But carry on.. Close your eyes and ears and just be fed without tasting knowledge..

 

[gallantwarrior]

And Shell just pulled out of Alaska because of regulations. Go figure! Not a story HuffPo is going to print, surely.

 

[depotoo]

Gasland was a joke. Some of those faucets had been spitting fire for years before fracking, yet they didn't tell ya that. They also made false breast cancer claims. .
They claimed that the Pronghorn Antelope, Mule Deer in Wyoming are endangered species.
This is also false. I am sure there are some I am forgetting.
Don'-t you ever check into such claims for yourself?

Yeah.....................fracking doesn't cause problems with the well water. But then again, maybe you should watch the documentary "Gasland".

And yeah....................fracking might be safe in the eyes of some, but it seems to cause a whole lot of earthquakes when the waste water is pumped back into the ground.

OK has had 700 earthquakes in 2014. That's about 2 earthquakes a day, and they are all because of fracking.

 

[jc456]

No, they didn't exist prior to fracking. The farmers used to have good land and water, now they don't.

oh gawd, another uninformed lib. aghhhhhhhhhhh

 

[longknife]

Yeah.....................fracking doesn't cause problems with the well water. But then again, maybe you should watch the documentary "Gasland".

And yeah....................fracking might be safe in the eyes of some, but it seems to cause a whole lot of earthquakes when the waste water is pumped back into the ground.

OK has had 700 earthquakes in 2014. That's about 2 earthquakes a day, and they are all because of fracking.

Immense amount of misinformation and fraud in "Gaslands". Never mentioned that most of those existed PRIOR to fracking. Those folks live on top of a NATURAL toxic waste dump.. Frackers are doing them a favor and DRAINING the gasfields.. Plenty of documentation of PAST levels of hydrocarbons in the air and water. And ancient pix of folks lighting streams on fire..

If I had natural gas coming from my faucets I would be using a gas furnace to warm the house.

Natural gas was seeping into wells in the 1600 and 1700s.

 

[longknife]

Yale Study Says Fracking Doesn't Contaminate Drinking Water.



Of course it's only one study. But coming from Yale? That should really shake up the anti-fracking crowd.



So, there you have it–deep drilling doesn’t poison drinking water. Yet, we knew this back in 2010, where the Environmental Protection Agency tested the drinking water in Dimock, PA and found that most of the harmful compounds in the water were “naturally occurring substances.”



Read more with links @ Sorry, anti-frackers: Yale study says the process doesn’t contaminate drinking water « Hot Air

 

[westwall]

Yeah.....................fracking doesn't cause problems with the well water. But then again, maybe you should watch the documentary "Gasland".

And yeah....................fracking might be safe in the eyes of some, but it seems to cause a whole lot of earthquakes when the waste water is pumped back into the ground.

OK has had 700 earthquakes in 2014. That's about 2 earthquakes a day, and they are all because of fracking.

You mean the fake documentary that showed the faucet with the flames coming out of it but failed to tell you that the faucet had ALWAYS had methane coming out of it....long before there ever was a fracking operation going on in the region? That POS "documentary?

You need better source material dude.

 

[Old Rocks]

Elevated levels of diesel range organic compounds in groundwater near Marcellus gas operations are derived from surface activities

1. 
   
   
   • Brian D. Drollettea,
   • Kathrin Hoelzerb,
   • Nathaniel R. Warnerc,
   • Thomas H. Darrahd,
   • Osman Karatume,
   • Megan P. O’Connore,
   • Robert K. Nelsonf,
   • Loretta A. Fernandezg,
   • Christopher M. Reddyf,
   • Avner Vengoshh,
   • Robert B. Jacksoni,
   • Martin Elsnerb, and
   • Desiree L. Plataa,1

Author Affiliations

1. 
   
   
   • Edited by Andrea Rinaldo, Ecole Polytechnique Federale Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland, and approved September 16, 2015 (received for review June 11, 2015)

Abstract
Hundreds of organic chemicals are used during natural gas extraction via high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF). However, it is unclear whether these chemicals, injected into deep shale horizons, reach shallow groundwater aquifers and affect local water quality, either from those deep HVHF injection sites or from the surface or shallow subsurface. Here, we report detectable levels of organic compounds in shallow groundwater samples from private residential wells overlying the Marcellus Shale in northeastern Pennsylvania. Analyses of purgeable and extractable organic compounds from 64 groundwater samples revealed trace levels of volatile organic compounds, well below the Environmental Protection Agency’s maximum contaminant levels, and low levels of both gasoline range (0–8 ppb) and diesel range organic compounds (DRO; 0–157 ppb). A compound-specific analysis revealed the presence of bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, which is a disclosed HVHF additive, that was notably absent in a representative geogenic water sample and field blanks. Pairing these analyses with (i) inorganic chemical fingerprinting of deep saline groundwater, (ii) characteristic noble gas isotopes, and (iii) spatial relationships between active shale gas extraction wells and wells with disclosed environmental health and safety violations, we differentiate between a chemical signature associated with naturally occurring saline groundwater and one associated with alternative anthropogenic routes from the surface (e.g., accidental spills or leaks). The data support a transport mechanism of DRO to groundwater via accidental release of fracturing fluid chemicals derived from the surface rather than subsurface flow of these fluids from the underlying shale formation.

By the way, that is a PNAS publication, not Yale, and the study was done by the Ecole Polytechnique Federale Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.

Imagine that -- "Diesel level organic compounds" found in the vicinity of MASSIVE oil and gas reserves. Hold the presses --- we GOTTA run that story.. Trouble is -- ALL of the contaminants that have been blamed on fracking are NATURALLY occurring in HUGE quanities in those Mother Nature toxic dumps. Adding a barrel of benzene to the mix would be like pissing into a sewer.

But carry on.. Close your eyes and ears and just be fed without tasting knowledge..

Typically dishonest of you, Westwall. Highlighted in red was this assessment;

The data support a transport mechanism of DRO to groundwater via accidental release of fracturing fluid chemicals derived from the surface rather than subsurface flow of these fluids from the underlying shale formation.

So it was careless surface activities that contaminated the drinking water, not subsurface operations. In some ways, that is even more damning.

 

[flacaltenn]

Elevated levels of diesel range organic compounds in groundwater near Marcellus gas operations are derived from surface activities

1. 
   
   
   • Brian D. Drollettea,
   • Kathrin Hoelzerb,
   • Nathaniel R. Warnerc,
   • Thomas H. Darrahd,
   • Osman Karatume,
   • Megan P. O’Connore,
   • Robert K. Nelsonf,
   • Loretta A. Fernandezg,
   • Christopher M. Reddyf,
   • Avner Vengoshh,
   • Robert B. Jacksoni,
   • Martin Elsnerb, and
   • Desiree L. Plataa,1

Author Affiliations

1. 
   
   
   • Edited by Andrea Rinaldo, Ecole Polytechnique Federale Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland, and approved September 16, 2015 (received for review June 11, 2015)

Abstract
Hundreds of organic chemicals are used during natural gas extraction via high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF). However, it is unclear whether these chemicals, injected into deep shale horizons, reach shallow groundwater aquifers and affect local water quality, either from those deep HVHF injection sites or from the surface or shallow subsurface. Here, we report detectable levels of organic compounds in shallow groundwater samples from private residential wells overlying the Marcellus Shale in northeastern Pennsylvania. Analyses of purgeable and extractable organic compounds from 64 groundwater samples revealed trace levels of volatile organic compounds, well below the Environmental Protection Agency’s maximum contaminant levels, and low levels of both gasoline range (0–8 ppb) and diesel range organic compounds (DRO; 0–157 ppb). A compound-specific analysis revealed the presence of bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, which is a disclosed HVHF additive, that was notably absent in a representative geogenic water sample and field blanks. Pairing these analyses with (i) inorganic chemical fingerprinting of deep saline groundwater, (ii) characteristic noble gas isotopes, and (iii) spatial relationships between active shale gas extraction wells and wells with disclosed environmental health and safety violations, we differentiate between a chemical signature associated with naturally occurring saline groundwater and one associated with alternative anthropogenic routes from the surface (e.g., accidental spills or leaks). The data support a transport mechanism of DRO to groundwater via accidental release of fracturing fluid chemicals derived from the surface rather than subsurface flow of these fluids from the underlying shale formation.

By the way, that is a PNAS publication, not Yale, and the study was done by the Ecole Polytechnique Federale Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.

Imagine that -- "Diesel level organic compounds" found in the vicinity of MASSIVE oil and gas reserves. Hold the presses --- we GOTTA run that story.. Trouble is -- ALL of the contaminants that have been blamed on fracking are NATURALLY occurring in HUGE quanities in those Mother Nature toxic dumps. Adding a barrel of benzene to the mix would be like pissing into a sewer.

But carry on.. Close your eyes and ears and just be fed without tasting knowledge..

Typically dishonest of you, Westwall. Highlighted in red was this assessment;

The data support a transport mechanism of DRO to groundwater via accidental release of fracturing fluid chemicals derived from the surface rather than subsurface flow of these fluids from the underlying shale formation.

So it was careless surface activities that contaminated the drinking water, not subsurface operations. In some ways, that is even more damning.

Read more carefully please O-Rocks. That was MY comment -- not WestWalls'.. CLEARLY my name on it. You focused on something else distracting like??

I'd have to read the chem results. But you're just pointing out this is not directly related to the fracking process.

Could have been a barrel of stuff fell off a trailer accident..