Hydro-fracking: Fact vs. fiction

2012 GSA Annual Meeting & Exposition, Charlotte, North Carolina, US

2012-11-05

(Press-News.org) Boulder, CO, USA – In communities across the U.S., people are hearing more and more about a controversial oil and gas extraction technique called hydraulic fracturing – aka, hydro-fracking. Controversies pivot on some basic questions: Can hydro-fracking contaminate domestic wells? Does it cause earthquakes? How can we know? What can be done about these things if they are true? A wide range of researchers will address these and related critical questions at the GSA Annual Meeting this week.

"When people talk about contamination from hydraulic fracturing, for instance, they can mean a lot of different things," says hydrogeologist Harvey Cohen of S.S. Papadopulos & Associates in Bethesda, Maryland. "When it's what's happening near their homes, they can mean trucks, drilling machinery, noise." These activities can potentially lead to surface water or groundwater contamination if there are, for example, accidental fuel spills. People also worry about fracking fluids leaking into the aquifers they tap for domestic or municipal water.

On the other hand, when petroleum companies talk about risks to groundwater from hydro-fracking, they are often specifically referring to the process of injecting fluids into geologic units deep underground and fracturing the rock to free the oil and gas it contains, says Cohen. This is a much smaller, much more isolated part of the whole hydraulic fracturing operation. It does not include the surface operations -- or the re-injection of the fracking waste fluids at depth in other wells, which is itself another source of concern for many.

But all of these concerns can be addressed, says Cohen, who will be presenting his talk on groundwater contamination and fracking on the morning of Wednesday, 7 Nov. For instance, it has been proposed that drillers put non-toxic chemical tracers into their fracking fluids so that if a nearby domestic well is contaminated, that tracer will show up in the well water. That would sort out whether the well is contaminated from the hydro-fracking operations or perhaps from some other source, like a leaking underground storage tank or surface contaminants getting into the groundwater.

"That would be the 100 percent confident solution," says Cohen of the tracers.

Another important strategy is for concerned citizens, cities, and even oil companies to gather baseline data on water quality from wells before hydro-fracking begins. Baseline data would have been very helpful, for example, in the case of the Pavillion gas field the Wind River Formation of Wyoming, according to Cohen, because there are multiple potential sources of contaminants that have been found in domestic wells there. The Pavillion field is just one of multiple sites now being studied by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to learn about past and future effects of hydro-fracking on groundwater.

The same pre-fracking science approach is being taken in some areas to evaluate the seismic effects of disposing of fracking fluids by injecting them deep underground. In Ohio and Texas, this disposal method has been the prime suspect in the recent activation of old, dormant faults that have generated clusters of low intensity earthquakes. So in North Carolina, as well as other places where fracking has been proposed, some scientists are scrambling to gather as much pre-fracking seismic data as possible.

Potentially newsworthy hydro-fracking presentations and sessions will run throughout the meeting, include the following:

MONDAY Paper No. 125-7
Local and Regional Water Supply Planning to Evaluate and Manage Hydrofracking
Presentation Time: 3:35-3:50 p.m., Monday, 5 Nov.
Charlotte Convention Center: Room 213BC
Abstract: https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2012AM/finalprogram/abstract_212125.htm
Session No. 125: Hydrogeology and Geochemistry of Shales

TUESDAY Paper No. 135-1
Overview of the potential risks of shale gas development and hydrofracturing on water
resources in the United States
Presentation Time: 8:05-8:25 a.m., Tuesday, 6 Nov.
Charlotte Convention Center: Ballroom B
Abstract: https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2012AM/finalprogram/abstract_208960.htm
Session No 135: Shale Gas Development and Hydraulic Fracturing Impacts on Water Resources in the United States

Paper No. 142-2
Finding frack facts: The literature of hydraulic fracturing
Presentation Time: 8:30-8:45 a.m., Tuesday, 6 Nov.
Charlotte Convention Center: Room 201AB
Abstract: https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2012AM/finalprogram/abstract_208442.htm
Session No. 142: Geoscience Information: Investing in the Future

WEDNESDAY Paper No. 219-8
Groundwater contamination from hydraulic fracturing - How will we know?
Presentation Time: 10:15-10:30 a.m., Wednesday, 7 Nov.
Charlotte Convention Center: Room 207BC
Abstract: https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2012AM/finalprogram/abstract_212844.htm
Session No. 219: Hydraulic Fracturing for Resource Development or Remediation: Methods, Results, and Industry-Regulatory Response to Environmental Impacts on Ground and Surface Waters

Paper No. 219-14
History and development of effective regulation of hydraulic fracturing: the genesis of Colorado rule 205A
Presentation Time: 11:45 a.m.-noon, Wednesday, 7 Nov.
Charlotte Convention Center: 207BC
Abstract: https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2012AM/finalprogram/abstract_210026.htm
Session No. 219: Hydraulic Fracturing for Resource Development or Remediation: Methods, Results, and Industry-Regulatory Response to Environmental Impacts on Ground and Surface Waters

Paper No. 241-2 (Posters)
Pre-hydrofracking regional assessment of central Carolina seismicity
Presentation Time: 9 a.m.-6 p.m., Wednesday, 7 Nov. (authors will be present from 2 to 4 p.m. and 4:30 to 6 p.m.)
Charlotte Convention Center: Hall B, Booth #173
ABSTRACT: https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2012AM/finalprogram/abstract_209117.htm
Session No. 241: EarthScope and Geoprisms in Eastern North America: Ongoing Endeavors and a Look Ahead (Posters)

Paper No. 241-1 (Posters)
Insights on induced seismicity in Ohio from the Youngstown M4.0 earthquake
Presentation Time: 9 a.m.-6 p.m., Wednesday, 7 Nov. (authors will be present from 2 to 4 p.m. and 4:30 to 6 p.m.)
Charlotte Convention Center: Hall B, Booth #172
Abstract:https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2012AM/finalprogram/abstract_208780.htm
Session No. 241: EarthScope and Geoprisms in Eastern North America: Ongoing Endeavors and a Look Ahead (Posters)

### Find out what else is new and newsworthy by browsing the complete technical program schedule at https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2012AM/finalprogram/.

To identify presentations in specific areas of interest, search topical sessions by discipline categories or sponsors using the drop-down menus at www.geosociety.org/meetings/2012/sessions/topical.asp, or use your browser's "find" feature to search for keywords or convener names.

Representatives of the media and public information officers from universities, government agencies, and research institutions, may participate in technical sessions, field trips, and other special events. Eligible media personnel will receive complimentary registration and are invited to use GSA's newsroom facilities while at the meeting. Journalists and PIOs must pay for any short courses or field trips in which they wish to participate.

For information on media eligibility, go to www.geosociety.org/meetings/2012/media.htm. Media personnel may register onsite in the GSA Newsroom (room 204) at the Charlotte Convention Center. Wireless Internet access and a quiet space for interviews will be provided in the newsroom, along with beverages and light snacks throughout the day.

Newsroom Hours of Operation Saturday, 3 Nov., 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, 4 Nov., through Tuesday, 6 Nov., 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, 7 Nov., 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Newsroom telephone number (incoming calls): +1-704-339-6207 (starting Saturday afternoon).

Contact Christa Stratton, GSA Director of Communications & Marketing, for additional information and assistance.

www.geosociety.org/meetings/2012/

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Field geologists (finally) going digital

2012-11-05

Boulder, CO, USA – Not very long ago a professional geologist's field kit consisted of a Brunton compass, rock hammer, magnifying glass, and field notebook. No longer. In the field and in the labs and classrooms, studying Earth has undergone an explosive change in recent years, fueled by technological leaps in handheld digital devices, especially tablet computers and cameras. Geologist Terry Pavlis' digital epiphany came almost 20 years ago when he was in a museum looking at a 19th-century geology exhibit that included a Brunton compass. "Holy moly!" he remembers thinking, ...

Learning a new sense

2012-11-05

Rats use a sense that humans don't: whisking. They move their facial whiskers back and forth about eight times a second to locate objects in their environment. Could humans acquire this sense? And if they can, what could understanding the process of adapting to new sensory input tell us about how humans normally sense? At the Weizmann Institute, researchers explored these questions by attaching plastic "whiskers" to the fingers of blindfolded volunteers and asking them to carry out a location task. The findings, which recently appeared in the Journal of Neuroscience, have ...

Cystic kidney growth curbed

2012-11-05

Autosomal-dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is one of the most common genetic disorders, affecting one in every 1,000 people and responsible for up to ten percent of patients on dialysis worldwide. The disease is characterized by the development of cysts that lead to progressive kidney failure and necessitate dialysis or a kidney transplant in most patients aged around fifty. Moreover, the persistent cyst growth causes high blood pressure and painful complications. Although we have known about the disease for over a century and its genetic basis for almost 20 years, ...

US Hispanics at high risk for cardiovascular disease

2012-11-05

Hispanics and Latinos living in the U.S. are highly likely to have several major cardiovascular disease risk factors, such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, and smoking, according to a new, large-scale study. Risks vary among the diverse Hispanic/Latino groups, but individuals who were born in the U.S. are more likely to have multiple risk factors. The findings are reported in the Nov. 7 issue of JAMA. Hispanic and Latino people now comprise the largest minority group in the U.S. Although this population is relatively young, cardiovascular ...

New findings on gene regulation and bone development

2012-11-05

The patients have single short fingers (metacarpals) and toes (metatarsals) and can be restricted in growth due to a shortened skeleton. This hereditary disease is called brachydactyly type E (Greek for short fingers). Three years ago Dr. Philipp G. Maass from the research group of Professor Friedrich C. Luft at the Experimental and Clinical Research Center (ECRC), a joint cooperation between the Charité Medical Faculty and the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) in Berlin-Buch, has discovered an epigenetic mechanism, which, when dysregulated, causes this condition. ...

Grandfathers play a more prominent role

2012-11-05

Europeans spend much time with their grandchildren. And past 70, the grandfather takes the lead. Norwegian sociologist Knud Knudsen sets great store by his grandchildren. In that respect, he is typical of the grandparents in Europe who are the subjects of his recent research. "Europeans with grandchildren generally opt to spend a good deal of time with them," says 67-year-old Knudsen, who is professor of sociology at the University of Stavanger (UiS). "And grandfathers appear to be more involved than before," he adds. In a new study, he found that grandmothers are ...

Prenatal testosterone levels influence later response to reward

2012-11-05

Philadelphia, PA, November 5, 2012 – New findings led by Dr. Michael Lombardo, Prof. Simon Baron-Cohen and colleagues at the University of Cambridge indicate that testosterone levels early in fetal development influence later sensitivity of brain regions related to reward processing and affect an individual's susceptibility to engage in behavior, that in extremes, are related to several neuropsychiatric conditions that asymmetrically affect one sex more than the other. Although present at low levels in females, testosterone is one of the primary sex hormones that exerts ...

Inhibition of enzyme NOX4 prevents liver fibrosis

2012-11-05

Researchers at the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) have led a study published in PLoS One showing that the inhibition of a family member of NADPH oxidase enzyme, NOX4, plays an important role in liver fibrosis. The researchers studied the function of a cytokine called transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) in the pathophysiology of the liver, which is one of the main research lines of the Biological Clues of the Invasive and Metastatic Phenotype research group at the IDIBELL, leaded by Isabel Fabregat. This paper is related with the processes of ...

Massive volcanic eruption puts past climate and people in perspective

2012-11-05

The largest volcanic eruption on Earth in the past millions of years took place in Indonesia 74,000 years ago and researchers from the Niels Bohr Institute can now link the colossal eruption with the global climate and the effects on early humans. The results are published in the scientific journal Climate of the Past. The volcano Toba is located in Indonesia on the island Sumatra, which lies close to the equator. The colossal eruption, which occurred 74,000 years ago, left a crater that is about 50 km wide. Expelled with the eruption was 2,500 cubic kilometers of lava ...

Crystals for efficient refrigeration

2012-11-05

Washington, D.C.--Researchers at the Carnegie Institution have discovered a new efficient way to pump heat using crystals. The crystals can pump or extract heat, even on the nanoscale, so they could be used on computer chips to prevent overheating or even meltdown, which is currently a major limit to higher computer speeds. The research is published in the Physical Review Letters. Ronald Cohen, staff scientist at Carnegie's Geophysical Laboratory and Maimon Rose, originally a high school intern now at the University of Chicago carried out the research. They performed ...

HKUST discovers novel elastic alloy achieving 20x temperature change and 90% carnot efficiency in solid-state heat pumping

Early prediction of preterm birth in cell-free RNA may revolutionize prevention strategies

Largest phase 3 trial of novel treatment for hypertension shows promising results

European regulation needed to prevent the birth of children with inherited cancer-causing genetic mutation after sperm donation

Research spotlight: Study provides a window into public perceptions about technological treatment options for brain conditions

Millions of HealthCare.gov participants face coverage loss due to burdensome reenrollment policies, according to new research

Study: DNA test detects three times more lung pathogens than traditional methods

[Press-News.org] Hydro-fracking: Fact vs. fiction
2012 GSA Annual Meeting & Exposition, Charlotte, North Carolina, US

Hydro-fracking: Fact vs. fiction

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: