THE FUTURE OF FRACKING - Hydrofracking: What Everyone Needs to Know - page 84

What Are “Tracers,” and How Are They Changing?
One of the most promising new ideas for reducing water contamination, or at least
lowering the “dread-to-risk ratio” that shadows hydrofracking, is to inject fluids
with “tracers” in order to track where they flow deep underground. But the public is
wary of the man-made radioactive or chemical tracers currently used (mentioned in
chapter 6 ) , and now universities—such as Rice University in Houston—and com-
panies—such as Southwestern Energy—are working to develop new technologies.
The new tracers are stable, nontoxic, noninvasive chemicals with a unique “signa-
ture” for long-term fluid identification.
The mitigation of hydrofracking pollution is even attracting young, idealistic
entrepreneurs. One approach under development by BaseTrace, a new company
founded by a group of Duke University graduate students, uses an inert DNA-based
tracer. DNA can provide a near-infinite number of sequence variations, so unique
tracers can be tailored to individual wells. The BaseTrace product is robust and
can withstand high temperatures and pressures, the company says. Just a thimble-
ful of the tracer can be detected, even when mixed with millions of gallons of
fluid. The company hopes to introduce its tracer by late 2013 and is testing ways
to identify groundwater pollution over long distances. “We really hope to make a
difference by providing answers where previously there were none,” wrote Justine
Chow, BaseTrace's CEO. 50
How Are Citizens Harnessing Big Data to Track Fracking?
Responding to a perceived decline of government oversight, SkyTruth, a nonprofit
environmental monitoring group in West Virginia, created a real-time alert system
that uses remote sensing and digital mapping to track pollution events. Founder Jon
Amos says that “more and more the burden is going to be on the public to keep an
eye on what's happening in the environment.” 51
SkyTruth has released a database created from over 27,000 industry reports on
the chemicals used in hydrofracking, and made it freely available to the public.
Monitoring the impacts of drilling in the Marcellus play in West Virginia,
Pennsylvania, and New York, SkyTruth's alert system sends an e-mail update when
a new event occurs. Alerting property owners that a natural gas well is about to be
drilled nearby allows them to test their well water before, during, and after the hy-