Study links foam in water wells to shale well sites

[enough]

http://powersource.post-gazette.com/powersource/companies-powersource/2015/05/04/Study-links-foam-in-water-wells-to-Marcellus-shale-well-sites-Pennsylvania-1/stories/201505040180

By Laura Legere / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette May 4, 2015 5:28 PM

White foam in northeastern Pennsylvania water wells likely was caused by Marcellus Shale gas well sites that have already been blamed for causing natural gas to infiltrate residential water supplies, a paper published by the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reported on Monday.

Environmental consultant Garth Llewellyn and biochemistry and geosciences researchers with Penn State University used a novel method to identify low levels of organic compounds that they said likely explain foaming from three water wells in Bradford County between 2010 and 2012. Test results from commercial laboratories during investigations at the sites had not picked up on what was causing the foaming — they reported no unsafe levels of compounds other than natural gas in the water, while other compounds, like glycols and surfactants, had appeared inconsistently or at barely detectable levels.

The same or similar organic compounds that the researchers traced in the water, including 2-n-Butoxyethanol, or 2-BE, are known to be used in drilling and hydraulic fracturing additives or to appear in waste fluids from oil and gas operations.

The researchers said it is impossible to “prove unambiguously” that the contaminants in the water came from shale gas-related activities because they were unable to secure samples of fluids that were used at or near the well site. But they said that multiple strands of evidence, including timing, well construction problems and the presence of matching compounds in both shale fluids and the water wells, make shale activity “the most probable source.”

snip> more at link

[Politicalboi]

1. Now they're going to have to charge extra for foam

This is what drill baby drill gets us. Natural gas should NOT be used at this stage of the game. Too dangerous IMO.

[daleanime]

2. kick, kick, kick....