Natural Gas Industry hamstrings Doctors in Pennsylvania

[badtoworse]

52. Krancer's letter was about methane migration, a different issue

I think the jury is out on that. I'm aware of two studies that were done in Pennsylvania on methane migration. One study, done by Duke University concluded that methane migration was related to fracking with higher concentrations being seen nearer the wells. Another, later study, done by Penn State University found no such correlation. I believe more study is needed to reach a definitive conclusion.

A couple of points to consider. There other potential sources of methane that could come into play, such as coal bed methane and biogenic methane. Given that Pennsylvania has no standards governing private water wells, it's possible that the methane is seeping up from coal beds that are close to the surface - that phenomenon is known to occur in Pennsylvania. Biogenic methane (caused by rotting organic matter in the ground) could find its way into a poorly constructed well.

The shale that is being fracked is thousands of feet below the surface, whereas a water well is at most a few hundred feet. It's hard for me to see how methane could seep through thousands of feet of rock to contaminate ground well. The only way I can see is if the gas well were improperly cased and the methane was leaking from the well. The Penn State study points out that the Duke study was done in 2010 before Pennsylvania upgraded the casing requirements for gas wells.

I personally think more study is needed about methane.