Fracking - where is it headed ?

[xoxoxoBruce]

Achille's other heel.

Water samples collected at Colorado sites where hydraulic fracturing was used to extract natural gas show the presence of chemicals that have been linked to infertility, birth defects and cancer, scientists reported Monday.

The study, published in the journal Endocrinology, also found elevated levels of the hormone-disrupting chemicals in the Colorado River, where wastewater released during accidental spills at nearby wells could wind up.

[glatt]

New study: Recent natural gas fracking operations have tainted the ground water, but it's actually good news, because it's the well casings that are to blame and they can be fixed.

The shale-gas boom of recent years has contaminated drinking-water wells in North Texas’ Barnett Shale and the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania, a study published Monday concludes.

The study, by researchers from five universities, concludes that neither drilling itself nor the hydraulic fracturing that follows it is directly to blame.

Instead, gas found in water wells appeared to have leaked from defective casing and cementing in gas wells, meant to protect groundwater; or from gas formations not linked to zones where fracking took place.

“Our data do not suggest that horizontal drilling or hydraulic fracturing has provided a conduit to connect deep Marcellus or Barnett formations directly to surface aquifers,” the authors wrote.

The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, adds to a growing body of science that examines the environmental impacts of natural gas production, which has seen a rush of drilling and processing in numerous states over the past decade.

In an email, lead author Thomas Darrah of Ohio State University said tracing the blame to well construction problems instead of fracking offers hope of protecting groundwater supplies.

“This is relatively good news because it means that most of the issues we have identified can potentially be avoided by future improvements in well integrity,” said Darrah, who teaches in the School of Earth Sciences at Ohio State.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Instead, gas found in water wells appeared to have leaked from defective casing and cementing in gas wells, meant to protect groundwater; or from gas formations not linked to zones where fracking took place.

“This is relatively good news because it means that most of the issues we have identified can potentially be avoided by future improvements in well integrity,” said Darrah, who teaches in the School of Earth Sciences at Ohio State.

So the drillers/frackers who install the casings and cement them, are doing a half-assed job. And have been right along, just nobody has been paying attention and it's not as noticeable as Deepwater Horizon/Macondo circus.

[Lamplighter]

This announcement is from an long-expected "NY State Health Commission Report",
and appears to be based on the frequency of industry-wide leaks occurring in the fracking wells,
... as well as zoning laws passed by cities and counties and approved by an Appeals Court.

Cuomo to Ban Fracking in New York State, Citing Health Risks
NY Times
JESSE McKINLEY
DEC. 17, 2014

ALBANY — The Cuomo administration announced Wednesday that it would ban hydraulic fracturing in New York State,
ending years of uncertainty by concluding that the controversial method of extracting gas
from deep underground could contaminate the state’s air and water and pose inestimable public-health risks.<snip>

The state has had a de facto ban on the procedure for more than five years, predating Mr. Cuomo’s first term.
The decision also came as oil and gas prices continued to fall, in part because of surging American oil production,
as fracking boosted output.<snip>