Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
2.2 Water Resources
Fracking is a water-intensive process. Estimates of water use vary from 250 -
4000 m 3 for drilling and 7000-23 000 m 3 for fracking, depending on factors
such as geology, depth and thickness of the shale. 31
In the UK, the total volume of water that could be needed if a fracking
industry were to develop has been assessed as relatively low at the national
level in comparison to other uses. However, there could be local and regional
concerns. The Weald in South East England is a key target area for un-
conventional fossil fuels but the water resources in many parts of the region
are already over-abstracted. The pressures of increased demand (from
population growth, a growth in the number of households and economic
growth), reform of the abstraction regime and the impacts of climate change
on weather patterns could add to these problems. Water UK has commented
that ''where water is in short supply there may not be enough available from
public water supplies or the environment to meet the requirements for
hydraulic fracturing''. 32
2.3 Water Contamination
The risk of water contamination is one of the most controversial issues in
the fracking debate. The industry and its advocates point to studies such as
'Fact-Based Regulation for Environmental Protection in Shale Gas Develop-
ment' from the Energy Institute of the University of Texas at Austin, 33 which
concluded that ''there is at present little or no evidence of groundwater
contamination from hydraulic fracturing of shales at normal depths'' and
make claims such as ''Hydraulic fracturing has been in use for more than
60 years without any confirmed cases of groundwater contamination''. 34
However, it is necessary to examine such claims more closely.
High-volume hydraulic fracturing, such as is carried out today in the US
and as is proposed for the UK, has not been in use for more than 60 years.
The first well fracked was in 1947, but this was a vertical well using 1000
gallons of napalm injected at relatively low pressure. High volume hydraulic
fracturing has been made possible by technical developments in the last
decade such as horizontal drilling, the use of friction-reducers to create
'slickwater' and drilling several wells from one well-pad.
The claim that there have been no proven cases of groundwater con-
tamination is also questionable. The US Environmental Protection Agency
announced that it did not intend to complete an investigation into the
pollution of an aquifer in the town of Pavillion, Wyoming, although it had
previously stated in a draft report that ''the data indicates likely impact to
ground water that can be explained by hydraulic fracturing''. 35 Some claim
that this is not the only case where the EPA has stopped its investigations. 36
It is also suspected that many claims about groundwater contamination have
been settled out of court with confidentiality agreements. 37
Finally, the industry and its advocates typically adopt a very narrow def-
inition of the word fracking, referring just to the stimulation of the well. This
 
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