Standard Water Testing Sought in Shale Industry
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network in Academic
State Environmental Regulators Will Participate in a Gas Industry-funded Study Aimed at Developing Standards for Testing Groundwater Near Drilling Sites for the Presence of Methane
The study will examine how a dozen laboratories — including the Department of Environmental Protection's lab — analyze water samples and whether their methods might skew results when comparing water samples before and after drilling.
The issue is important in Pennsylvania, where concerns have been raised about potential contamination of water supplies by the gas drilling boom. About 1.5 million people in the state rely on groundwater supplies and another 2 million have individual water wells — although not all of them in drilling areas.
"The goal is really to hone in on developing a standard methodology for analyzing these samples. In Pennsylvania, with the microscope we're under, we want to make sure the standard is buttoned up," Loren Anderson, strategic projects manager for the Marcellus Shale Coalition, said on Monday. The North Fayette-based lobbyist is paying an unspecified amount for Environmental Standards Inc. to coordinate the study.
As long as Valley Forge-based Environmental Standards uses good science and publishes results for review, watchdogs said they don't see a conflict in the funding.
"I don't particularly have a problem with industry taking the first step. But there has to be follow-up. Let the scientific process do the work," said John Quigley, a former Department of Conservation and Natural Resources secretary in Harrisburg who monitors the growing industry.
Environmental Standards said it would prepare a report, which Anderson said could lead to a proposal for standards or further study. About a dozen labs will analyze samples and submit blind results with details of their work to the Valley Forge lab for analysis.
"This is an area in which we're considering have a definitive standard," said Scott Perry, deputy secretary for the department's Office of Oil and Gas Management.
Energy companies generally test water supplies in surrounding wells before drilling for gas for comparison to post-drilling tests if water quality changes. The DEP has standards for its own lab and accepts testing from accredited private labs but acknowledges that labs might use different methodologies.
"I know the shale coalition is concerned that the different testing methodologies could yield different results, which could then in turn affect a determination of whether a water supply has been affected by gas well drilling," Perry said.
Drilling can disrupt naturally occurring levels of methane in groundwater, or gas can leak from well casings into water supplies. The DEP last month released reports involving 243 cases in which it determined that drilling affected water supplies. Some involved gas in water wells.
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