Where to begin in a review of Pro Publica’s article on new research into the migration of subterranean brine to shallow water above? The inflammatory, overreaching headline? The leap from Duke University’s study to conclusions suggesting to the public that hydraulic fracturing is polluting drinking water?

Let’s start there. On that point the article is self-rebutting. See the fourth paragraph:

"No drilling chemicals were detected in the (shallow) water, and there was no correlation between where the natural brine was detected and where drilling takes place."

Then, near the end of the article:

"Nevertheless, (Robert) Jackson, one of the study's authors, said he still considers it unlikely that frack fluids and injected man-made waste are migrating into drinking water suppli... more »

Kudos to Fuel Fix.com for cooking up a link between hot dogs and fracking in time for the Fourth of July – making the point that chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing are all around our daily lives, in some of the things we eat and other products that make our lives better.

Take the hot dog. Fuel Fix points out that the staple at cookouts, ballparks and fireworks displays often contains something called sodium erythorbate for fast curing and retention of the hot dog’s distinctive pink color. In fracking, it helps prevent precipitation of metal oxides, improving the process.

Going to a barbecue? Many BBQ sauces contain guar gum, derived from (you guessed it) the guar bean. In hydraulic fracturing, guar gum thickens the water in the fracking fluid, better suspending the sand that keep... more »

When we wrote last week about technologies to mitigate water demands during hydraulic fracturing, we knew we’d find more examples of energy innovation for the simple fact that there’s a lot of innovating going on. Here’s a little bit about two other advances in the area of fracking waste water, as well as another company’s initiative to make the development of Canada’s oil sands cleaner and greener.

Halliburton says it has a suite of solutions to reduce the demand for fresh water in hydraulic fracturing operations, called H2-Forward. You can read more about it, here. Basically, it’s a process that allows drillers to reuse fracturing fluid. Halliburton:

"The service includes new technologies such as CleanWave service that is used to process fracturing flowback and produced water, r... more »

One of the factors involved in pulling energy from shale through hydraulic fracturing is how much water is needed – typically 2 to 4 million gallons per well. Though that’s not as much water as it sounds (electrical generation for the Susquehanna River Basin requires nearly 150 million gallons per day), it’s a public concern. More on water usage at the FracFocus website.

Water also is an industry concern. It isn’t free, and once the well has been stimulated with fracking, there’s waste water that has to be disposed of or recycled. Enter innovation. A number of companies are tackling the issue.

Schlumberger’s HiWAY flow-channel technology claims to use less water, with greater effectiveness:

“HiWAY technology fundamentally changes the way proppant fractures generate conductivity.... more »

Statements by EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson worth remembering the next time there’s a blog post, op-ed column or article that claims as fact that hydraulic fracturing has fouled or poisoned drinking water:

“In no case have we made a definitive determination that the fracking process has caused chemical contamination of groundwater.” (Fox News, April 27, 2012)

And:

"I'm not aware of any proven case where the fracking process itself has affected water.” (Congressional testimony, May 24, 2011)

Could such a thing occur? Sure. Oil and natural gas development is an industrial enterprise in which precision and care are needed to prevent mistakes and minimize the possibility of accidents.

API and its members have worked hard to develop industry standards to help ensure environ... more »