A recently released study by the Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) found “no detectable upward migration of gas or fluids” from the Marcellus Shale in cases of fracking. The study, which was limited to six Marcellus wells in Greene County, Pa., also found that “for this specific location, fracture growth ceased more than 5,000 feet below drinking water aquifers.”
Researchers used natural and man-made tracers to look for evidence that fluid and gas had migrated at least 3,800 feet upward to a gas-producing zone of Upper Devonian/Lower Mississippian-age shale, halfway between the Marcellus Shale and the surface. Microseismic monitoring from geophone arrays placed in two vertical Marcellus Shale gas wells were used to determine the upper extent of induced fractures.
Gas samples from the Upper Devonian/Lower Mississippian gas field were collected two months prior to hydraulic fracturing and up to eight months after fracking, according to the study, and no evidence of gas migration was detected. Monitoring of the Upper Devonian gas field up to five months following fracturing also produced no evidence of fluid migration.
The study was performed by a collaboration of government, industry and academia and would appear to be a “win” for the industry. However, the favorable conclusion and small sample size are unlikely to convince environmental groups. The day after the study was released, activist group Americans Against Fracking issued a release calling on President Obama to ban fracking.
“Not only has fracking been linked to earthquakes, groundwater contamination, birth defects and health issues, but the massive amount of methane leaked in the process is more effective at trapping heat than carbon dioxide,” according to the release.
In other words, it will take more than a few wells in Pennsylvania to satiate the anti-fracking camp.
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