The boom in the unconventional natural-gas drilling method known as fracking hit so fast that scientists have had to scramble to determine whether it is safe for humans and the environment. Mostly they are still trying to catch up.
But a study by the U.S. Geological Survey appears to have answered a critical question about the millions of gallons of chemical-laced water that are injected into the wells to fracture rocks and release trapped gas: Is there any cause for concern when that water is stored later, whether in treatment facilities or special underground wells?
The short answer is yes, said the study’s lead author, Denise Akob, a USGS microbiologist. “The key takeaway is really that we’re demonstrating that facilities like this can have an environmental impact.”
Ms. Akob headed a team of researchers from Duke University and the University of Missouri in studying a stream near a wastewater storage site in Lochgelly, W.Va. Upstream from the site, the waters of Wolf Creek tested normal. Downstream, there were detectable levels of chemicals that commonly lace fracking waste — barium, bromide, calcium, chloride, sodium, lithium, strontium.
