Canada: Fracking Increases Gas In Domestic Water Wells

Canada: Fracking Increases Gas In Domestic Wells by Dianne Saxe, July 16 2013, Mondaq
Natural gas fracking does increase petroleum gases in the domestic water wells of nearby homes, according to a Duke University study of the Marcellus Shale published in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This also increases its carbon footprint. Led by Robert B. Jackson, the  study  found that drinking water wells within one kilometre of natural gas fracking wells (horizontal drilling / fracturing)  were contaminated with stray petroleum gases including methane, ethane and propane, with methane concentrations an average of six times higher than those wells farther away. High levels of petroleum gases can cause domestic water to catch fire, and can be an explosion hazard. The researchers studied 141 drinking water wells, primarily in northeastern Pennsylvania. It is a followup to a similar 2011 study.

“The methane, ethane and propane data, and new evidence from hydrocarbon and helium content, all suggest that drilling has affected some homeowners’ water,” said Jackson, a professor of environmental sciences at Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment, in a statement.  “In a minority of cases the gas even looks Marcellus-like, probably caused by poor well construction.” A similar pattern emerged for ethane, with concentrations of the gas found 23 times higher on average for homes less than one kilometre from a gas well.   The researchers found propane in 10 of the 133 homes they studied for this gas, all close to a gas well. “The ethane and propane are signatures of fracking,”  USA Today  reports Jackson as saying. “The new data reinforces our earlier observations that stray gases contaminate drinking water wells in some areas of the Marcellus shale,” added Avner Vengosh, study co-author and professor of geochemistry and water quality at Duke’s Nicholas School.  [Emphasis added]

[Refer also to:

New Peer Reviewed Study: Elevated levels of methanol and heavy metals may be from fracking in Texas, Water contamination highest near frack sites

1996 03 CAPP Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers Cover Migration Methane into Groundwater from Leaking Energy Wells

Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers / Van Stempvoort, D. R., E. J. Jaworski, and M. Rieser. 1996. “Migration of Methane into Groundwater from Leaking Production Wells Near Lloydminster; Report for Phase 2 (1995).” CAPP Pub. #1996-0003.

Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers / Van Stempvoort, D. R., and E. J. Jaworski. 1995. “Migration of Methane into Groundwater from Leaking Production Wells Near Lloydminster; March 1995.” CAPP Pub. #1995-0001. Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.

New Duke University Study: Methane and ethane found in drinking water near natural gas wells: study, Increased stray gas abundance in drinking water wells near Marcellus shale gas extraction

USGS Fracking Study Confirms Methane Contamination of Drinking Water in Pavillion, Wyoming

New evidence confirms that fracking endangers groundwater

EPA in 1987 found fracking fouled well water in W.Va

Fracking, methane and drinking water

Methane contamination of drinking water accompanying gas-well drilling and hydraulic fracturing ]

This entry was posted in Global Frac News. Bookmark the permalink.