Natural gas companies throughout Pennsylvania are hoping to expand their efforts to extract natural gas from the Marcellus Shale deposit.
The Delaware River Basin Commission is presiding over a multi-state initiative that would allow natural gas drilling through hydraulic fracture within a few hundred yards of the Delaware River.
The voting parties in this initiative include the governor of each state bordering the Delaware River Basin, New Jersey, Delaware, New York and Pennsylvania. Gov. Andrew Quomo of New York and Gov. Jack Markell of Delaware have already indicated that they will vote against the measure.
Governors Chris Christie of New Jersey and Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania have yet to state their intentions publicly. Also allowed a vote on the measure is the Army Corps of Engineers and, by proxy, the Obama administration.
The measure is heavily opposed by environmental and conservation groups as well as Delaware River communities.
Dan Lockwood, a spokesman for South Jersey Gas, said that a vote to disallow drilling in areas that border the Delaware River would have little to no impact on the price of natural gas in South Jersey, due to the sheer size of the Marcellus Shale.
The Marcellus Shale is a super-massive formation of Middle Devonian-age black carbonaceous (organic rich) shale, which occurs in the subsurface beneath large areas of Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York.
The Marcellus Shale has been estimated to contain more than 500 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Using some of the same horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing methods that were applied to the Barnett Shale in Texas, it is estimated that as much as 10 percent of this natural gas might be extracted. An estimated 50 trillion cubic feet of natural gas is enough to power the entire United States for about two years, and would be worth about one trillion dollars.
This means the expanded use of hydraulic fracturing as a method of extraction, and some people are raising concerns about the potential environmental impacts of the practice.
Hydraulic fracturing, commonly referred to as fracking, is a process by which cracks in geological formations are expanded or initiated by injecting fluids into the formation under extremely high pressure. Depending on the composition of the formation, these fluids might be a simple mixture of sand and water, water thickened by gelling agents, or in some cases, diesel fuel. The fluid also contains a mixture of sand and gravel that acts as a “proppant” which the cracks open so that liquids, in this case natural gas, can seep out and be collected by well bores.
Fracking essentially increases the production capabilities of natural gas wells by connecting a larger area of the reservoir to the well, thereby increasing the area from which natural gas can be recovered.
Hydraulic fracturing has been used in America since the 1940s, but the 1980s and 1990s was a high-point for hydraulic fracturing research, and the subject has recently been thrust onto the national stage as a point of contention between conservation and environmental groups and economic and corporate interests.
Of primary concern is the effects of hydraulic fracturing on groundwater supplies, especially in cases where diesel-fuel-like substances have left behind significant amounts of BTEX chemicals, benzene, toluene, ethelbenzyne and xylene.
A comprehensive report released by the EPA cites a study that claims between 68 and 82 percent of fracturing fluid will be recovered by the well. Fluids that flow beyond the capture zone of the production well, however, cannot be recovered.
According to the EPA report, “BTEX chemicals outside of the capture zone will likely be transported by groundwater according to regional hydraulic gradients.”
What does this mean for South Jersey and the bayshore region?
“I’d say we wouldn’t be directly impacted here, as 90 percent of South Jersey Bayshore communities get their water from the shallow Kirkland Cohansey Aquifer, which is well outside of the Marcellus Shale,” said Matt Blake, manager of the American Littoral Society’s Delaware Bay Program.
“The major threat is to the long-term safety of the 15.6 million people who rely on the Delaware River Basin for drinking water.”
This includes large urban neighbors of the South Jersey region, including Philadelphia, Trenton and even New York City.
Blake claims, citing industry estimates, that a ruling in favor of fracking would result in 20,000 new hydraulic fracture wells along the basin. Also pending approval are regulations that would allow wells to be drilled 300 feet from the river, greatly increasing the possibility of contamination.
“Any contamination within the Basin means harmful toxic pollution will work its way into the Delaware Bay, where the public has invested millions to restore wetlands, fisheries and habitats important to the livelihoods of many,” warned Blake.
The Upper Delaware River is a federally designated Wild and Scenic River, and Blake sees the pending regulations as a decisive test of how important that designation is.
Preserving natural resources will only become more important as the population grows and more and more people depend on fragile ecosystems for basic necessities like clean water.
The Partnership for the Delaware Estuary estimated that the population within the Delaware River Basin will increase by 80 percent by 2100.
“There is nothing more important than ensuring that the people who live here today and tomorrow have access to safe drinking water,” said Blake.
While the economic and energy-producing potential of the Marcellus Shale may be vast, such considerations must be balanced against the imperative to preserve our natural resources, now and for future generations.