In Pennsylvania, officials are contending with a problem posed by the surge in hydraulic fracturing, NPR reports.

Hydraulic fracturing has helped transform the U.S. energy landscape over the past decade, experts say. Energy independence has long been a goal of the U.S., with every president since Richard Nixon affirming his support of such a nebulous objective. Still, there had been little progress in transforming such a dream into a reality – until, experts say, recent advances in hydraulic fracturing changed that.

More commonly known as fracking, hydraulic fracturing involves the pumping of millions of gallons of water mixed with sand and chemicals deep underground. The highly pressurized jets help break apart shale rock, releasing deposits of natural gas that were formerly inaccessible. The U.S. has become a global hotbed of fracking activity over the past 10 years, and it is now the world's largest producer of the hydrocarbon.

Perhaps more so than any other state, Pennsylvania has quickly come to symbolize the fracking industry. A jump in the number of fracking wells in the state has helped create jobs and increase tax revenue. But it has also prompted a spirited debate among those opposed to the sector, according to the news provider.

While Pennsylvania lawmakers largely supported fracking over the past few years in the wake of the worst economic contraction since the Great Depression, a number of officials are concerned about the long-term effects of a common fracking wastewater treatment disposal practice known as deep-well injection, in which such effluent is pumped into underground wells. Pennsylvania does not permit deep-well injection, but neighboring Ohio does.

In an effort to improve environmental safeguards, officials are urging the reuse and recycling of fracking wastewater, according to NPR. Under such a policy, drillers are treating fracking effluent with compounds that can neutralize drilling mud additives and other potentially dangerous substances. A jump in reuse and recycling would help support water quality and conservation initiatives, among other campaigns, officials assert.

Treated fracking water is not sent back to residents, but, rather, is often reused by drillers. Dan Ertel, the owner of a water treatment company in the Keystone State, told the news provider that an increasing number of drillers are contacting him as they work to recycle fracking wastewater instead of disposing of it in underground wells. 

"Basically what we're seeing is … a gradual, controlled but necessary crank-down of regulation," Ertel said, referring to the more stringent rules that have prompted the increased interest in fracking reuse and recycling.

The continued recycling of fracking wastewater will also have at least one unintended – though highly desirable – consequence, state residents say: it will also eliminate the number of trucks that move about the state transporting fracking effluent to underground wells. Pennsylvanians have increasingly complained about the proliferation of trucks in the state, and many are thrilled at the prospect of a future with less traffic congestion, NPR reports.

 

Posted on May 15th, 2012 under Construction and Oilfields, Industrial Uses, Wastewater News, Water Regulations