WHEELING - Marcellus Shale drilling involves compounds associated with neurological problems, cancer and other serious health effects, but officials say there is no evidence that the activity pollutes drinking water.
Though officials with the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection said there have been no official complaints about groundwater contamination from Marcellus drilling, there are general concerns about the practice.
Hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," - the action used to break the Marcellus Shale - calls for drillers to blast millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals into the ground. The process is currently exempt from the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, leaving states to regulate the activity.
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In this photo provided by Wetzel County resident Ray Renaud, Appalachia Midstream Services, a subsidiary of Chesapeake Energy, plans to install 18 compressors, like the one shown here, within a 3-mile area in Wetzel County as part of a Marcellus Shale drilling operation.
In addition to contamination, the fracking process can cause creeks to run dry if too much water is drawn from them. Michael Stratton, a West Virginia DEP Water Use division section manager, said he has not yet heard of any streams being wiped out by companies gathering fracking water.
"That is not to say it won't happen, though," he emphasized, noting it may take as much as 6 million gallons of water to frack a typical Marcellus well.
"The key is the size of the stream because if you take that much out of a river, it will not hurt as much as if you take it out of a small stream," Stratton added.
Regarding the compounds pumped into the wells for fracking, information provided by the West Virginia Oil and Gas Association shows that 99.5 percent of the mixture blasted into the hole consists of water and sand. Chemicals introduced to the ground during fracking as part of the other 0.5 percent include ammonium persulfate, a material used to manufacture plastics, as well as ethylene glycol, a compound found in antifreeze.
The chemicals are used to reduce friction, kill algae and break down mineral deposits in the well. Various well services firms make different proprietary blends of the solutions and supply them to the drilling companies, which blend them with water at the well site before pumping them underground. Environmentalists worry the chemicals are poisoning underground drinking water sources, though they admit they have no examples of this occurring.
Though no official complaints regarding groundwater from Marcellus drilling have been filed with the DEP, spokeswoman Kathy Cosco said there have been 31 notifications of well water contamination in the state since June 2009.
"There is no evidence, so far, that these problems are from frack water," Cosco said.
She noted, however, these problems could be the result of Marcellus activity.
Currently, Chesapeake Appalachia is seeking permits from the West Virginia DEP to drill on Wheeling Park Commission property in Oglebay Park. Chesapeake has also signed drilling contracts with the Ohio County Commission and Marshall County Board of Education, though the company has not yet sought DEP permission to work in those areas.
Chesapeake, CNX Gas Corp., AB Resources and Range Resources also have been active in the Northern Panhandle, leasing property in Marshall, Wetzel and Tyler counties.