Challenges of ensuring clean groundwater during unconventional shale gas development: What's the rush

Annual shale gas production across the United States has increased twelve-fold since 1990 and currently comprises approximately 23% of the country's natural gas production. By 2035, it is estimated that this percentage will increase to 49%. Globally, Europe, China, Argentina, Mexico and South Africa all have significant, but underdeveloped shale gas deposits. In this country, much of the regulatory burden concerning unconventional shale gas development falls to the states. Hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling are technologies recently developed which allow the extraction of gas from impermeable source rock. Legislatures strive to craft laws to comport with good science, but new practices are evolving at a rapid rate and do not always allow for an assessment of risk before industries take action. A team of legal experts at Pitt Public Health, supported by an advisory committee of scientists, government representatives, public health professionals, community advocates, business and industry representatives and other environmental stakeholders, studied the question; “Do Pennsylvania laws protect groundwater during unconventional shale gas development?” The team identified three scenarios reflecting situations that have contaminated groundwater or that are realistic threats to public health: well casing failure; spills of hydraulic fracturing chemicals near the well site; and, the storage of flowback and production water in open surface impoundments. To assess complex laws in a way that is manageable, objective and replicable, a coding methodology was developed wherein the linguistic “data” of laws were categorically numbered and analyzed as they pertain to three different purposes: prevention; remediation; and, liability. Pennsylvania's legal requirements were then compared to those in other jurisdictions with abundant Marcellus Shale plays: New York; Ohio; Maryland; and, West Virginia. In doing so, Pitt Public Health identified best practices to prevent groundwater contamination from happening as well as those strategies to mitigate public health concerns after accidents occur.