Hydrogen Sulfide , Oil and Gas , and People ’ s Health

Hydraulic!fracturing!(fracking)!of!deep!shale!beds!to!develop!natural!gas!has!caused!concern!regarding! the!potential!for!various!forms!of!water!pollution.!!Two!potential!pathways!–!diffuse!transport!through! bulk!media!and!preferential!flow!through!fractures!–!could!allow!the!transport!of!contaminants!from!the! fractured!shale!to!aquifers.!!There!is!substantial!geologic!evidence!that!natural!vertical!flow!drives! contaminants,!mostly!brine,!to!near!the!surface!from!deep!evaporite!sources.!!Interpretative!numerical! modeling!shows!that!diffuse!transport!could!require!up!to!tens!of!thousands!of!years!to!move! contaminants!to!the!surface,!but!also!that!fracking!the!shale!could!reduce!that!transport!time!to!tens!or! hundreds!of!years.!!Conductive!faults!or!fracture!zones,!as!found!throughout!the!Marcellus!shale!region,! could!reduce!the!travel!time!further.!!Injection!of!up!to!15,000,000!liters!of!fluid!into!the!shale!generates! high!pressure!at!the!well!which!decreases!with!distance!from!the!well!and!with!time!after!injection!as! the!fluid!advects!through!the!shale.!!The!advection!displaces!native!fluids,!mostly!brine,!and!fractures! the!bulk!media!and!widens!existing!fractures.!!Simulated!pressure!returns!to!pre"injection!levels!in!about! 90!days.!!The!overall!system!requires!from!three!to!six!years!to!reach!a!new!equilibrium!reflecting!the! significant!changes!caused!by!fracking!the!shale.!!The!rapid!expansion!of!hydraulic!fracturing!requires! that!monitoring!systems!be!employed!to!track!the!movement!of!contaminants!and!that!gas!wells!have!a! reasonable!offset!from!faults.! !

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