Results of a new study show that there’s still much to be improved when it comes to the treatment of the byproducts of hydraulic fracturing, which has become a popular method of oil and gas extraction in US and Canada over the past decade. Researchers sampled sediments and porewaters from a lake downstream from two fracking wastewater treatment facilities. Their analysis detected that peak concentrations of radium, alkaline earth metals, salts and organic chemicals all occurred in the same sediment layer. The two major classes of organic contaminants included nonylphenol ethoxylates, which are endocrine-disrupting chemicals, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are carcinogens. The highest concentrations coincided with sediment layers deposited five to 10 years ago during a peak period of fracking wastewater disposal. Researchers say that the potential risks associated with this contamination are unknown, but they suggest tighter regulations of wastewater disposal could help protect the environment and human health.
Authors:
William D. Burgos, Luis Castillo-Meza, Travis L. Tasker, Thomas J. Geeza, Patrick J. Drohan, Xiaofeng Liu, Joshua D. Landis, Jens Blotevogel, Molly McLaughlin, Thomas Borch, and Nathaniel R. Warner
Corresponding author:
William D. Burgos, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, PA, US, Email: wdb3@psu.edu
Original paper published in Environmental Science and Technology on July 12, 2017.
