We've heard from an environmentalist and numerous regulators that the act of hydraulic fracturing is not something to be worried about; that surface spills and accidents are where the risks lie.
Jim Ladlee, associate director of the Penn State University Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research, discussed this a bit more today. He said he is not aware of Marcellus material migrating upward in a fracked well and causing pollution or other problems. The problems he has seen have come due to mistakes or issues in the drilling process - the making of the hole into which fracking materials are eventually injected. Due to what he sees as drilling mistakes or issues, he believes some methane has migrated through subsurface layers much shallower than
the Marcellus. This has happened at about 19 wells in total in Pennsylvania representing a total of 11 locations, he said. In this line of thinking perhaps the f word doesn't deserve its reputation and we would do better to focus concern on drilling practices.
