Safe shale drilling? All must get aboard
DALLAS — Responsible shale drilling doesn’t have to be an oxymoron.
Energy companies have drilled more than 2 million wells using horizontal drilling to run pipe into shale rock. Once in, they’ve hydraulically fractured thousands of miles of shale oil using a chemical slurry under high pressure. They’ve learned what works, what doesn’t and what hurts the environment.
Most importantly, though, they know how to drill safely. Yet how do we make sure every operator uses best practices? The Responsible Shale Energy Extraction Conference held in Dallas as part of the Texas Earth Day celebrations tried to answer that question.
It took guts promoting one of the world’s most reviled activities at a festival filled with tree huggers. But bringing together environmentalists, regulators and industry representatives was the whole point. The university researchers behind the conference occupy the volatile middle ground between an industry allergic to public oversight and environmentalists who believe fossil fuels should remain in the ground.
“I get more death threats than I get Christmas cards,” said Zacariah Hildenbrand, a scientific contributor to the Collaborative Laboratories for Environmental Analysis and Remediation at the University of Texas at Arlington, better known as CLEAR. Hildenbrand tests groundwater in drilling areas, while other CLEAR members collect data on other environmental issues.
Drilling for energy in shale formations is an ugly and noisy industrial process, but all of us
“I get more death threats than I get Christmas cards.” Zacariah Hildenbrand, scientific contributor to CLEAR
rely on it for affordable gasoline and electricity.
While every well poses threats to the environment, shale drilling adds a few new ones. The risks include contaminating groundwater, releasing toxic gases and spilling liquid chemicals. Then there is the toxic waste, whether it’s the rock cuttings or the water used to drill and fracture the well.
The lab’s work on shale production is independent, but that doesn’t stop drilling supporters and opponents from accusing the scientists of taking sides.
“You’ve got people who say that we need to ban fracking, and that we’re here trying to facilitate it,” Hildenbrand said. “Then you’ve got people who say our research will give the industry a black eye, and that will keep them from getting money to put their kids through college.”
CLEAR has found that most companies assiduously plan and drill their wells to minimize the environmental impact. Others don’t, and a few bad actors can do a lot of damage.
“We have seen how some oil and gas companies treat people where the water was pristine, and all of a sudden, it lights on fire,” Hildenbrand said. “We’ve seen people whose air quality has been compromised by a well blowout in the Eagle Ford, and how they treated those folks. It’s disgraceful.”
Yet other companies readily take advice, he added. When notified that CLEAR has detected a methane leak or toxic air emissions, many companies fix the problem and invite CLEAR to check again. One unnamed Oklahoma City company, though, threatened to have Hildenbrand arrested even though the landowner wanted CLEAR to do some testing.
Another part of the problem is that shale drilling is still fairly new, companies don’t agree on best practices and scientists don’t get access to conduct independent research.
“The amount of work done from the science side has dramatically increased, but it’s still not where it should be,” CLEAR director Kevin Schug said.
Regulating the industry falls on the Texas Railroad Commission, where Ryan Sitton is one of three members. He’s an engineer from the oil and gas industry and acknowledges there is still more to learn.
“Whenever you have an industry that is changing so quickly, there is a lot of room for us to gather new data to help us understand what’s happening. One, because we want to make sure it’s safe, but two, so people can be informed,” he said.
The commission, though, has few inspectors, uses outdated technology and takes a light touch. The Trump administration has promised to roll back regulations, including limits on methane leaks, a major contributor to climate change.
“In any industrial activity, there will be impacts,” said Scott Anderson, a senior policy director at the Environmental Defense Fund. “It would be nice if we could just ask people to be good, and they would be good, but that’s not the way the world works.”
Shale drilling is becoming the main source of oil and natural gas in America, and there is no stopping it now. In the absence of regulatory oversight, scientists like those at CLEAR can help operators drill responsibly, if they’ll cooperate.
The industry must take heed, embrace third-party monitoring and help shut down irresponsible operators. Otherwise, bad actors will anger the public with their recklessness and turn society against the whole industry.
Chris Tomlinson is the Chronicle’s business columnist. chris.tomlinson@chron.com twitter.com/cltomlinson www.houstonchronicle.com/ author/chris-tomlinson