Simply put, [the rock layers] are not impermeable, said the studys author, Tom Myers, an independent hydrogeologist whose clients include the federal government and environmental groups. The Marcellus shale is being fracked into a very high permeability, he said. Fluids could move from most any injection process. The models predict that fracking will dramatically speed up the movement of chemicals injected into the ground. Fluids traveled distances within 100 years that would take tens of thousands of years under natural conditions. And when the models factored in the Marcellus natural faults and fractures, fluids could move 10 times as fast as that. Where man-made fractures intersect with natural faults, or break out of the Marcellus layer into the stone layer above it, the study found, contaminants could reach the surface areas in tens of years, or less. The study also concluded that the force that fracking exerts does not immediately let up when the process ends. It can take nearly a year to ease. As a result, chemicals left underground are still being pushed away from the drill site long after drilling is finished. propublica.org/article/new-study-predicts-frack-fluids-can-migrate-to-aquifers-within-years
Posted on: Fri, 08 Nov 2013 19:26:19 +0000
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