To frack or not to frack

The potential threat posed to the environment through the tapping of natural resources continues to excite public debate in the US.

David Paterson, governor of New York, has signed an executive order putting a stop to hydraulic fracturing (sometimes known as ‘fracking’) in the state until July 2011. Fracking is a process used to drill for natural gas and involves cracking thousands of feet beneath the Earth to access deposits.

The order impacts on drilling in the Marcellus Formation and Paterson has previously voiced concerns about fracking in this area. Residents in Pennsylvania have filed a lawsuit against Cabot Oil & Gas Corp, citing the company for water contamination. Using fracking involves pumping large amounts of water, sand and chemicals into shale formations, which, it is argued, could potentially contaminate underground water supplies.

It is this perceived threat to water supplies that has pushed New York legislators into action. However, Kathryn Klaber of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, an industry group, has rebutted this threat. She said: ‘What gets a lot of attention is the hydraulic fracturing process. Well, the regulators and others who study this very carefully [say] that is not the biggest risk. It’s very difficult, and, in fact, has never been shown that from 8,000-feet down a process is contaminating drinking water … We’re focused on where the real challenges are, which is making sure you don’t have any spills, and there’s no surface interactions with the compounds we use.’

However, despite this optimism, the New York injunction will remain in place until the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation completes a review. In 2004, the US Environmental Protection Agency stated that fracking posed a minimal risk to underground sources of drinking water, however, it plans to review its position in 2012.

The Processingtalk newsletter will be taking a break now, returning on Tuesday 4 January. Festive greetings to all our readers. 

Lyndon White
Editor, Processingtalk

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