But, “depth is not the only issue,” Nickolaus notes. In the U.S., only Texas and Colorado have any policy or technical requirements for such wells so far, according to the report.īoth Jackson and Mike Nickolaus, an analyst with the Groundwater Protection Council, an organization of state water regulators, found the number of shallow wells surprisingly high. Several countries, including Germany, the U.K., and Canada require, or are considering, regulation of shallow-well fracking to guard against groundwater contamination. But because the output in fracked wells drops by about 80% within the first two years of production, tens of thousands of fracked wells would have to be drilled each year to maintain current output, he says. Reporting requirements have become more stringent since late 2013, however, says an official with FracFocus.īecause they are cheaper to drill, shallow wells are likely to become more common, Jackson notes. Arkansas, for example, had more than 300 wells fracked shallower than 3,000 feet, using an average of 5 million gal of water and chemicals per well.įracFocus relied on voluntary reporting during the study period, and Jackson estimates that the actual number of wells drilled was at least twice the reported number. This subset of wells presents even higher risks of groundwater contamination, the team reports. #Number of fracked wells in the us freeIn addition, when fracking at least 2,300 of these shallow wells, drillers used large amounts of water and chemicals, more than 1 million gal per well, to initially fracture rocks and free oil and gas reserves. The median depth for all fracturing wells was around 8,200 feet. At least 2,600 wells were fracked at 3,000 feet deep or less, and some as shallow as 100 feet. Between 20, nearly 7,000, or 16%, of the 44,000 hydraulic-fractured oil and gas wells that companies reported drilling were less than a mile deep, according to the team’s analysis. So they analyzed the best and only data on fracking wells drilled, from a mostly voluntary well-drilling reporting system known as FracFocus. Jackson and colleagues sought to better understand how widespread the risks of fracking-related groundwater contamination might be. Currently, groundwater in Wyoming and California is being investigated for possible fracking-related contamination. “However, they pose a greater risk for groundwater contamination since they are close to drinking water aquifers.” These groundwater sources can rest from hundreds to thousands of feet below the surface, and natural geologic cracks or faults and past drilling activities can provide a pathway between shallow fracking sites and an aquifer, allowing fracking chemicals, oil, and methane to reach drinking water supplies. Jackson of Stanford University, who led the new study. Shallow wells are cheaper and easier to operate, says Robert B. Oil and natural gas drilling companies force the mix underground under high pressure to fracture pockets of rock and release oil and gas trapped within, which they draw to the surface. 2015, DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.5b01228).įracking uses water, sand, and an often-proprietary blend of chemicals, which may include benzene, toluene, and other hydrocarbons. This first national assessment of fracking focused on well depth raises particular concerns about fracking wells less than a mile deep ( Environ. pose a potentially significant risk of contaminating drinking water sources, according to a new analysis. Several thousand near-surface hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, operations for oil and natural gas production in the U.S.
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