This book provides a balanced discussion about the wastewater generated by hydraulic fracturing operations, and how to manage it. It includes an in-depth discussion of the hydraulic fracturing process, the resulting water cycle, and the potential risks to groundwater, soil, and air. The “fracking” process involves numerous chemicals that could potentially harm human health and the environment, especially if they enter and contaminate drinking water supplies. Treatment, reuse, and disposal options are the focus, and several case studies will be presented. The book also discusses the issues of the large amounts of water required for drilling operations, the impacts on water-sensitive regions.

Natural gas plays a key role in our nation's clean energy future. The United States has vast reserves of natural gas that are commercially viable as a result of advances in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technologies, which enable greater access to gas in rock formations deep underground. These advances have spurred a significant increase in the production of both natural gas and oil across the country. Responsible development of America's oil and gas resources offers important economic, energy security, and environmental benefits. However, as the use of hydraulic fracturing has increased, so have concerns about its potential human health and environmental impacts, especially for drinking water. In response to public concern, the US House of Representatives requested that the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conduct scientific research to examine the relationship between hydraulic fracturing and drinking water resources. In 2011, the EPA began research under its Plan to Study the Potential Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing on Drinking Water Resources. The purpose of the study is to assess the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources, if any, and to identify the driving factors that may affect the severity and frequency of such impacts. Scientists are focusing primarily on hydraulic fracturing of shale formations to extract natural gas, with some study of other oil-and gas-producing formations, including tight sands, and coalbeds. The EPA has designed the scope of the research around five stages of the hydraulic fracturing water cycle. Each stage of the cycle is associated with a primary research question: Water acquisition: What are the possible impacts of large volume water withdrawals from ground and surface waters on drinking water resources? Chemical mixing: What are the possible impacts of hydraulic fracturing fluid surface spills on or near well pads on drinking water resources? Well injection: What are the possible impacts of the injection and fracturing process on drinking water resources? Flowback and produced water: What are the possible impacts of flowback and produced water (collectively referred to as "hydraulic fracturing wastewater") surface spills on or near well pads on drinking water resources? Wastewater treatment and waste disposal: What are the possible impacts of inadequate treatment of hydraulic fracturing wastewater on drinking water resources? This report describes 18 research projects underway to answer these research questions and presents the progress made as of September 2012 for each of the projects. Information presented as part of this report cannot be used to draw conclusions about potential impacts to drinking water resources from hydraulic fracturing. The research projects are organized according to five different types of research activities: analysis of existing data, scenario evaluations, laboratory studies, toxicity assessments, and case studies.

This final report provides a review and synthesis of available scientific information concerning the relationship between hydraulic fracturing activities and drinking water resources in the United States. The report is organized around activities in the hydraulic fracturing water cycle and their potential to impact drinking water resources. The stages include: (1) acquiring water to be used for hydraulic fracturing (Water Acquisition), (2) mixing the water with chemical additives to prepare hydraulic fracturing fluids (Chemical Mixing), (3) injecting the hydraulic fracturing fluids into the production well to create fractures in the targeted production zone (Well Injection), (4) collecting the wastewater that returns through the well after injection (Produced Water Handling), and (5) managing the wastewater via disposal or reuse methods (Wastewater Disposal and Reuse). EPA found scientific evidence that hydraulic fracturing activities can impact drinking water resources under some circumstances. The report identifies certain conditions under which impacts from hydraulic fracturing activities can be more frequent or severe.

The management of highly saline wastewater released from hydraulic fracturing-also known as fracking-a hydrocarbon releasing process used in the rapidly growing shale gas industry, is a serious challenge for industry and regulators due to its adverse effects on public health and to the environment in general. As well, fracking wastewater also contains particularly concerning levels of suspended solids, mainly comprised of sand and oil. Pre-treatment of fracking wastewater through microfiltration (MF) can effectively remove these suspended solids and oily materials. Forward osmosis (FO), an emerging membrane-based technology, is a feasible method for the treatment of fracking wastewater. For the FO process to be successful, an effectively engineered draw solution, a robust FO membrane, and an efficient pre-treatment, such as MF are required. FO is particularly effective when combined with membrane distillation (MD) for the recycling of the FO draw solutions. Therefore, the goals of this research project were to a) identify an effective draw solution for FO and b) fabricate two types of advanced membrane materials: MF membranes with high water flux, high rejection, and antifouling properties, and a FO membrane for recycling fracking wastewater with high water flux, high rejection, and antifouling properties. In this research, a comprehensive study was conducted to identify novel, yet effective, organic draw solutions for the treatment of fracking wastewater by FO. A novel high water-flux polyvinyl acetate-coated electrospun nylon 6/silica (SiO2) composite MF membrane was fabricated and its performance was tested in regard to water flux, oil rejection, and antifouling properties. In the next stage of this research, a new FO membrane material with high water-flux with high rejection and antifouling properties was fabricated and characterized. Finally, real fracking wastewater was treated using MF and then FO-combined with MD as a downstream separator-using the fabricated membranes. In the pre-treatment stage, 9̃8.5% turbidity and 5̃2% of total organic carbon (TOC) were removed from the fracking wastewater via the MF process. Finally, treated water with TDS 23-44 mg/L was obtained from the pre-treated wastewater via the combined FO/MD process. This produced water can effectively be reused for hydraulic fracking.

Natural gas plays a key role in our nation's clean energy future. Recent advances in drilling technologies-including horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing-have made vast reserves of natural gas economically recoverable in the US. Responsible development of America's oil and gas resources offers important economic, energy security, and environmental benefits. Hydraulic fracturing is a well stimulation technique used to maximize production of oil and natural gas in unconventional reservoirs, such as shale, coalbeds, and tight sands. During hydraulic fracturing, specially engineered fluids containing chemical additives and proppant are pumped under high pressure into the well to create and hold open fractures in the formation. These fractures increase the exposed surface area of the rock in the formation and, in turn, stimulate the flow of natural gas or oil to the wellbore. As the use of hydraulic fracturing has increased, so have concerns about its potential environmental and human health impacts. Many concerns about hydraulic fracturing center on potential risks to drinking water resources, although other issues have been raised. In response to public concern, the US Congress directed the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to conduct scientific research to examine the relationship between hydraulic fracturing and drinking water resources. This study plan represents an important milestone in responding to the direction from Congress. EPA is committed to conducting a study that uses the best available science, independent sources of information, and a transparent, peer-reviewed process that will ensure the validity and accuracy of the results. The Agency will work in consultation with other federal agencies, state and interstate regulatory agencies, industry, non-governmental organizations, and others in the private and public sector in carrying out this study. Stakeholder outreach as the study is being conducted will continue to be a hallmark of our efforts, just as it was during the development of this study plan. The overall purpose of this study is to elucidate the relationship, if any, between hydraulic fracturing and drinking water resources. More specifically, the study has been designed to assess the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources and to identify the driving factors that affect the severity and frequency of any impacts. Based on the increasing development of shale gas resources in the US, and the comments EPA received from stakeholders, this study emphasizes hydraulic fracturing in shale formations. Portions of the research, however, are also intended to provide information on hydraulic fracturing in coalbed methane and tight sand reservoirs. The scope of the research includes the hydraulic fracturing water use lifecycle, which is a subset of the greater hydrologic cycle. For the purposes of this study, the hydraulic fracturing water lifecycle begins with water acquisition from surface or ground water and ends with discharge into surface waters or injection into deep wells. Specifically, the water lifecycle for hydraulic fracturing consists of water acquisition, chemical mixing, well injection, flowback and produced water (collectively referred to as "hydraulic fracturing wastewater"), and wastewater treatment and waste disposal.

Hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking" as it is commonly known, refers to the practice of using liquids at very high pressures to fragment rock, thereby allowing natural gas to be harvested. This process increases energy resources but also has some negative environmental impacts as well. This book looks at the environmental impact. The first section looks at fracturing and the water supply, the second section looks at ecosystems and wildlife, while the final section examines the possible effects on human ecosystems and human health.

Hydraulic fracturing, commonly referred to as “fracking,” is a technique used by the oil and gas industry to mine hydrocarbons trapped deep beneath the Earth’s surface. The principles underlying the technology are not new. Fracking was first applied at the commercial level in the United States as early as 1947, and over the decades it has been applied in various countries including Canada, the UK, and Russia. The author worked with engineering teams as early as the mid-1970s in evaluating ways to improve oil recovery from this practice. By and large fracking was not an economically competitive process and had limited applications until the early 2000s. Several factors altered the importance of this technology, among them being significant technological innovations in drilling practices with impressive high tech tools for exploration, well construction and integrity, and recovery along with discoveries of massive natural gas reserves in the United States and other parts of the world. These factors have catapulted the application of the technology to what is best described as the gold rush of the 21st century, with exploration and natural gas plays proceeding at a pace that seemingly is unrivaled by any historical industrial endeavor. But this level of activity has invoked widespread criticism from concerned citizens and environmental groups in almost every nation across the Globe. This outstanding new volume offers the industry a handbook of environmental management practices that can mitigate risks to the environment and, through best practices and current technologies, to conform to the current standards and regulations that are in place to provide the world with the energy it needs while avoiding environmental damage. For the new hire, veteran engineer, and student alike, this is a one-of-a-kind volume, a must-have for anyone working in hydraulic fracturing.