POWER August 2011 - 6

SPEAKING OF POWER
Fracking Problems
B
y most estimates, natural gas is
likely to become the dominant
power generation fuel in the U.S.
within perhaps a decade. The rapid growth
in natural gas supplies follows advanced
drilling techniques that can economically
tap large shale gas reserves located deep
beneath Earth's crust. Unfortunately, it
only takes one outlaw drilling company to
frack it up for the rest of us.
To release natural gas trapped within the
pore spaces of shale requires cracking the rock
open. Horizontal drilling techniques allow a
single well to perpendicularly intersect and
travel through a shale formation. Hydraulic
fracturing or " fracking " uses high-pressure
water to induce further cracking of the shale
around the bore hole, further increasing gas
recovery. Sand and proprietary chemicals are
also pumped into the pressurized well to
prop open the minute shale fractures, allowing
the gas to be captured, once the pressure
on the well is relieved.
Enormous Gas Reserves
The Marcellus shale deposits-a mile beneath
the Appalachian Basin, extending
from southern New York through Pennsylvania,
western Maryland, West Virginia, and
eastern Ohio-now account for about onethird
of U.S. natural gas reserves (2,552 Tcf).
At the current rate of natural gas consumption
(22.8 Tcf per year, 2009), that's about
110 years of reserves. More good news: Geologists
are predicting that larger shale gas
formations below Marcellus may yield even
greater quantities of gas in the future.
The number of wells and the rate of gas
extraction are also growing exponentially.
Gas wells tapping the Marcellus, producing
200 million cubic feet a day (cfd) in July
2008, were producing 1.4 billion cfd in
July 2010. The number of shale gas wells
drilled in Pennsylvania, for example, grew
from only 27 in 2007 to 1,386 in 2010,
according to the Pennsylvania Department
of Environmental Protection.
Growing Opposition
Extracting shale gas is not without controversy-some
appropriate, some misplaced. Op6
ponents
to fracking point to the large amount
of water required and charge that proprietary
chemicals have contaminated groundwater
supplies. However, during testimony before
the U.S. House Oversight Committee in late
May, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Administrator Lisa Jackson responded to
questions about the safety of fracking by
saying, " I'm not aware of any proven case
where the fracking process itself has affected
water. " A study by Duke University researchers
released in May also found " no confirmed
cases of an underground source of drinking
water contaminated as a result of a hydraulic
fracturing operation. "
However, there have been many cases of
operators violating state and federal laws with
accidental tainted water releases, all preventable.
There have also been several reports
that drillers have used diesel fuel for fracking,
in violation of state and federal laws. Those
cases are under active investigation.
Money Talks
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 exempted
fracking from EPA regulations under the
Safe Drinking Water Act, shifting the regulatory
heavy lifting to individual states.
Even so, the EPA and the Department of
Energy are now actively studying their
regulatory options, such as the Clean Water
Act and the Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act (regarding disposal of solid
and hazardous wastes).
Meanwhile, several states are actively
developing fracking regulations. On July 8,
the New York Department of Environmental
Conservation released a draft report with
what appear to be very reasonable permit
conditions for gas drilling in the Marcellus;
rules are due out later this year.
The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research
predicts $11.4 billion in economic stimulus
and up to 18,000 new jobs by 2020 if fracking
is allowed in the Empire State. Pennsylvania
remains pro-fracking for economic recovery
reasons: The gas industry supports more than
140,000 jobs (expected to rise to 211,000 by
2020) that pay a third more than the state's
average income. The gas industry is also expected
to generate nearly $2 billion in tax
www.powermag.com
More Award-Winning
Editorial
POWER staff have won more awards!
Senior Editor Angela Neville, JD won regional
American Society of Business Publication
Editors (ASBPE) awards for her
Legal & Regulatory columns " Electric Vehicles:
The Uncertain Road Ahead " (Mar.
2010) and " EPA's Mercury Rule: Another
Incarnation Coming " (Nov. 2010) as well
as for " Forensic Engineering: A Valuable
Tool in Incident Investigations " (May
2010). Senior Writer Sonal Patel won a
national ASBPE award for her country
profiles- " Brazil: Latin America's Beacon "
(Jan. 2010) and " China: A World
Powerhouse " (July 2010)-plus a regional
award for her work on the " Global
Monitor. " Congratulations!
revenue per year by 2020 for Pennsylvania.
Next door, the New Jersey House and Senate
in July overwhelmingly voted to ban fracking,
a largely symbolic move, as New Jersey has no
significant shale deposits. At press time, Governor
Chris Christie had not said if he would
sign or veto the bill.
A rejuvenated gas industry is benefiting
all economic sectors, including power,
and is putting billions of dollars into state
coffers. But that doesn't make the gas industry
invulnerable. The public's mental
picture of fracking resembles the image of
Texas wildcatters a century ago, when oil
profits trumped the environment.
Now is the time for the gas industry to
speak with a unified voice: Step forward
with strong, voluntary, self-policing standards
and commensurate penalties for operators
that fail to meet minimum siting
and environmental standards. Failing that,
the sure alternative will be new layers of
state and federal red tape that will slow
production and drive up end-user prices. ■
-Dr. Robert Peltier, PE is POWER's
editor-in-chief.
POWER | August 2011
http://www.powermag.com
POWER August 2011

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