Study: Methane in water is natural
Fracking not polluting wells, CU researchers say
Virtually all of the methane found in groundwater supplies in northeastern Colorado is naturally occurring, according to a University of Colorado study released Monday.
The study, which examined methane levels in groundwater supplies going back 25 years, found that microbially generated methane, rather than high-volume hydraulic fracturing, is the primary source of dissolved methane in that region’s groundwater supply.
The study is important, particularly for that region of the state, because it is where there has been a huge increase in oil and natural gas drilling, which uses a process called hydraulic fracturing. That is the practice of using sand, water and chemicals to crack underground strata to free up oil and gas supplies.
Because that drilling activity is happening in one of the state’s most populous areas, it has become controversial, leading to efforts to ban the process, including through three proposed statewide ballot measures.
The report, published Monday in the journal “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,” shows that fracking has little to nothing to do with methane in groundwater supplies.
CU researchers sifted through 25 years of public data maintained by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, which oversees the drilling industry, to determine sources and occurrence rates of methane and other gases in groundwater.
“The ability to do this kind of far-reaching impact study using public domain data is key,” said Owen Sherwood, a research associate with the Institute for Arctic and Alpine Research at CU Boulder and a lead author of the study. “This study highlights the immense value of a large, continuously updated and publicly accessible geochemical database maintained by a regulatory agency.”
Dramatic videos of residents igniting water running from a faucet occasionally surface in communities near oil and gas wells, including in Colorado, and the images are sometimes cited as evidence of the danger posed by energy development, including fracking.
“I think it’s important for people to realize that being able to light your tap water on fire in many cases is a natural occurrence,” Sherwood said.
“However, accidents do happen, leaks do happen,” he said.
The study looked only at the Denver-Julesburg Basin, an energy-rich formation in northeastern Colorado. The findings don’t necessarily apply to other formations because of differences in geology, drilling history and regulation, Sherwood said.
The study found that dating back to as far as 1988, dissolved methane was discovered in 523 of the 924 water wells that were sampled, a rate of about 64 percent.
Researchers, however, said that about 95.5 percent of that methane was generated by naturally occurring microbial processes due to a proximity of shallow coal seams that crisscross northeastern Colorado.
There are currently three proposed ballot measures dealing with fracking. Two would give local governments more authority in regulating drilling activities. A third that would establish a 2,500-foot setback rule from occupied structures or “other specifically or locally designated area.”
Opponents say that third measure is written so broadly that it would effectively ban the use of hydraulic fracturing in the state.
The main group opposing the measures immediately hailed the study, saying it is only one of many that show that fracking isn’t an issue.
“Scientists again have proven that fracking does not contaminate groundwater,” said Karen Crummy, spokeswoman for that opposition group, Protect Colorado. “Yet these extreme groups continue to push ballot measures that would destroy the state economy and take away Coloradans’ private property rights. By now, it should be clear that what they really want is to ban responsible oil and natural gas development.”
Proponents of the ballot measures, who still are trying to collect petitions to qualify for the November ballot, did not respond to requests for comment.
The $200,000 study was wholly funded by the Boulder-based National Science Foundation’s AirWaterGas Sustainability Research Network, which is located on the CU campus. It received no money from the energy industry, Sherwood said.
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