With hydraulic fracturing still in its infancy in southwest Mississippi, state officials and oil company representatives are confident the oil recovery process will have minimal impact on the environment and drinking water supplies.
The environmental issues related to fracking draw concerns on multiple fronts — water used in fracking has the potential to be a safety hazard to the environment and freshwater wells if disposed of improperly, and its disposal has also caused earthquakes in other states, in part due to the overfilling of disposal wells. And taking water from natural resources to carry out the process could limit the availability of freshwater over time.
WATER SAFETY A KEY ISSUE
Fracking water is rife with sand, but the salt and chemicals — including acid, gelling agents, friction reducers, iron control, biocide and others — make up about 1.5 percent of the entire mixture. Nonetheless, the water can pose a threat to the environment and drinking water if disposed of improperly.
Doug Hoch, a spokesman with Encana Oil & Gas, one of the companies involved in fracking operations in southwest Mississippi, said the chemicals used in fracking water are a smaller issue than the water’s ability to taint drinking water, which comes from underground aquifers.
“I know a lot of people have concerns about chemicals,” Hoch said. “The issue is not the chemicals. The issue is, is there a pathway for those to get into water? With good well-bore integrity, there’s no way.”
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