Drilling for data: The EPA's studies will expand fracking knowledge
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Pennsylvanians are about to get more hard data on the impact of hydraulic fracturing in shale gas drilling, now that the Environmental Protection Agency has chosen three sites in the state for case studies.
That's good news and it follows the call last week of the state health secretary for a $2 million statewide registry to track illnesses that may be related to such drilling operations. Both endeavors would cut through some of the emotions surrounding the enterprise and provide an informational base that could help shape public policy and public health standards.
The EPA said Thursday that, as part of a $1.9 million fracking study ordered by Congress, it will conduct seven case studies around the country to gauge the impact on drinking water resources of fracking, a process that injects water mixed with sand and chemicals into a gas well under great pressure to crack shale and release gas. The three studies done in Pennsylvania will occur in Washington, Bradford and Susquehanna counties.
While the latter two will be "retrospective" case studies in places where hydraulic fracturing has occurred, the EPA is calling the Washington County examination (along with a similar study in DeSoto Parish, La.) a "prospective" study that will monitor the chief aspects of fracking throughout the life cycle of a well.
Range Resources, which is one of the most active drillers in the state and has a Marcellus Division based in Southpointe near Canonsburg, supports the EPA's data gathering and analysis and will be involved in the Washington County study.
Such information collection may not end the debate over something as controversial as fracking, but it will add to the scientific knowledge on a subject with many implications for Pennsylvania.
First Published June 25, 2011 12:00 am
