Does the Fracking Water Kill the Fracking Forest?

The Oil and Gas companies argue that National Forests were created for multi-use and therefore they have as much right to access as any other shareholder. But how can you share something after you have destroyed it.

A test fracking water spill last year revealed the surprising toxicity of Fracking Water.

Fracking Fatally Destroys Forests In As Little As Two Days | The study conducted by the U.S. Forest Service concluded that fracking causes alarming damage to the environment in as little as two days.

More than 75,000 gallons of fracking fluids, which are injected deep underground to free shale gas and then return to the surface, were applied to the assigned plot over a two day period during June 2008. The following effects were reported in the study:

• Within two days all ground plants were dead;
• Within 10 days, leaves of trees began to turn brown. Within two years more than half of the approximately 150 trees were dead; and
• “Surface soil concentrations of sodium and chloride increased 50-fold as a result of the land application of hydrofracturing fluids…” These elevated levels eventually declined as chemical leached off-site. The exact chemical composition of these fluids is not known because the chemical formula is classified as confidential proprietary information.

• The findings, which looked at the effects of land application of fracking fluids on a quarter-acre section of the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia, found that  After two years, half of the trees were dead and the soil composition was radically altered. “The explosion of shale gas drilling in the East has the potential to turn large stretches of public lands into lifeless moonscapes,” concluded Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) Executive Director Jeff Ruch.

When asked if there had been any similar effects on vegetation observed at such spill sites, Pennsylvania environmental regulators said yes.

“In the Northern part of Pennsylvania, there have been several spills where frack flowback escaped the well pad and containment area and caused damage to vegetation, particularly fields that adjoin the well sites,” wrote Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman Katy Gresh in an email.

She added, “There have also been a handful of truck accidents in which frack flowback water spilled and damaged vegetation. In some cases, DEP’s Environmental Cleanup program staff has worked to remediate such areas.”

The original study abstract is below:

Forest impacts of fracking

Journal of Environmental Quality - Abstract

1.  doi: 10.2134/jeq2010.0504Vol. 40 No. 4, p. 1340-1344

Received:Nov 23 , 2011

* Corresponding author(s): mbadams@fs.fed.us

Land Application of Hydrofracturing Fluids Damages a Deciduous Forest Stand in West Virginia

1.     Mary Beth Adams ^*a

1.     aUSDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, P.O. Box 404, Parsons, WV 26287. Assigned to Associate Editor Fien Degryse

Abstract

In June 2008, 303,000 L of hydrofracturing fluid from a natural gas well were applied to a 0.20-ha area of mixed hardwood forest on the Fernow Experimental Forest, West Virginia. During application, severe damage and mortality of ground vegetation was observed, followed about 10 d later by premature leaf drop by the overstory trees. Two years after fluid application, 56% of the trees within the fluid application area were dead. Fagus grandifolia Ehrh. was the tree species with the highest mortality, and Acer rubrum L. was the least affected, although all tree species present on the site showed damage symptoms and mortality. Surface soils (0–10 cm) were sampled in July and October 2008, June and October 2009, and May 2010 on the fluid application area and an adjacent reference area to evaluate the effects of the hydrofracturing fluid on soil chemistry and to attempt to identify the main chemical constituents of the hydrofracturing fluid. Surface soil concentrations of sodium and chloride increased 50-fold as a result of the land application of hydrofracturing fluids and declined over time. Soil acidity in the fluid application area declined with time, perhaps from altered organic matter cycling. This case study identifies the need for further research to help understand the nature and the environmental impacts of hydrofracturing fluids to devise optimal, safe disposal strategies.