Water Resources and Natural Gas Production from the Marcellus Shale

This article is about collecting natural gas. Natural gas is abundant in the environment and does not harm the environment when it burns. It is the least harmful of fossil fuels. They have been drilling for natural gas from the Marcellus shale. Many states have been cautious about granting permission to drill because of the water supply. Not only is there a high amount of water needed for digging but also there are local water supplies that are being contaminated and the disposal of this water is being questioned.

Hydraulic:

Denoting, relating to, or operated by a liquid moving in a confined space under pressure

Viscosity:

The state of being thick, sticky, and semi fluid in consistency, due to internal friction.

Borehole:

A deep, narrow hole made in the ground, esp. to locate water or oil.

The opposition to gas drilling is the high amounts of water needed for drilling. It is not exactly clear how much of an impact the water takes from the drilling site. There needs to be enough water to drill on site but this could impact the local water supply. A community could have less water to use because it is being put to use at the digging site. At digging sites there is also more of a chance of disrupting local rivers and streams. There is a high chance that leaks and waste will get in there from digging equipment. The contaminated water is not always disposed or treated properly and causes issues in the environment and in the local water supply.

The reference list of this article looks highly creditable. There are many different researchers from different organizations. There are many different researchers from different regions that have taken on this issue and done research. It is not all a one sided point of view.

What is misleading about figure 7 is that they do not tell you what the gel is used for after it is used to transport proppant.

Questions:

What will drilling be like in 10 years?

How much contaminated water has there been since drilling started?

How can we cut down on our natural gas use?