Colorado State University researchers have launched a new project, Colorado Water Watch, which will use a monitoring system to collect groundwater quality data from oil and gas wells in the Denver-Julesburg Basin. The project is meant to supplement the water quality data available to the public and is the only place to view data in real time. The site collects data on temperature, pH, conductivity, salinity, dissolved oxygen and depth. This project is a collaboration of engineers and scientists from the Center of Energy Water Sustainability, which receives state and private funding, and strives for neutrality from the influence of biased parties like the energy industry or environmentalists.
Now more than ever it is important to know how oil and gas drilling will affect our water, particularly hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, which is a water intensive processes. In Colorado, nearly 30,000 wells have been drilled in the past 10 years, bringing the total up to about 53,000 in the state. This boom is contentious, as a number of lawsuits have been filed by the cities of Longmont, Lafayette, Fort Collins, Boulder and Broomfield that attempt to ban fracking in the city limits and are still being fought in court.
In addition to the sheer volume of water usage (about 22,100 to 39,500 acre-feet of water is used in Colorado per year or enough water for 66,400 to 118,400 homes), part of the problem with fracking is the unknowns. Fluid used in the process is about 99% water, but oil and gas companies consider the chemical mix added to be proprietary so it has been hard to study whether these somewhat unknown chemicals are effecting the groundwater or if contamination comes from other sources. Some states are now moving to require or are requiring disclosure.
An even bigger consideration with fracking is what to do with left-over heavily contaminated, sometimes radioactive “fracking fluid,”options for which are to be deep injected, applied directly to the land, or decontaminated and disposed of in a surface body of water. Research has found that even when this water does goes through water treatment plants, the plants are not sufficiently removing contaminants called halides, which can be bad for human health.
A cool recent development is a study released in the peer-reviewed journal of Environmental Science & Technology in which scientists describe how they do not need to know the exact chemicals used in fracking any longer to trace contamination, a great improvement which should help clarify how much effect fracking is really having on human health so communities can make informed decisions. Instead of looking for specific chemicals, scientists track two elements, boron and lithium, which leave different “isotopic and geochemical fingerprints” than other contamination such as from conventional oil and gas operations.
Living in a state with limited water, it has never been more vital to know what’s happening with that resource, particularly with a big, growing, and powerful industry like oil and gas. Hopefully this new research can shed some light on what path we should take in Colorado to a more sustainable energy future.
Sources:
Atkin, Emily. “Scientists Just Discovered How To Determine If Water Contamination Comes From Fracking.” ThinkProgress RSS. N.p., 21 Oct. 2014. Web. 03 Nov. 2014.
“Fracking Our Future: Where’s the Water?” Fracking Our Future. Western Resource Advocates, n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2014.
Facts (Before) Frack. Digital image. Western Resource Advocates. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Nov. 2014.
Handy, Ryan M. “CSU Develops Website to Monitor Well Water.” CSU Develops Website to Monitor Well Water. N.p., 25 Sept. 2014. Web. 03 Nov. 2014.
Kenworthy, Tom. “How Big Oil Could Be The Big Winner In Colorado’s Elections.” ThinkProgress. N.p., 29 Oct. 2014. Web. 03 Nov. 2014.
Proctor, Cathy. “Colorado’s Court Rulings against Fracking Bans Drawing National Attention – Denver Business Journal.” Denver Business Journal. N.p., 15 Oct. 2014. Web. 03 Nov. 2014.
Rahm, Dianne. “Regulating Hydralic Fracturing in Shale Gas Plays: The Case of Texas.” Energy Policy 39 (2011): 2974-981. ScienceDirect. Web. 03 Nov. 2014.
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