Gas Drilling Results in Waste Water Problems
The polluted water comes from a drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," in which millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals are blasted into each well to fracture tightly compacted shale and release trapped natural gas.
Fracking has been around for decades. But the drilling companies are now using it in conjunction with a new horizontal drilling technique they brought to Appalachia after it was proven in the 1990s to be effective on a shale formation beneath Texas.
Fracking a horizontal well costs more money and uses more water, but it produces more natural gas from shale than a traditional vertical well.
Fracking is utilized to expand gas production. The problem with fracking is that it pushes water into the ground in order to break the shale and in turn release trapped natural gas. If the same water is used to repeat the process, then the salt/brine product may not cause great harm. However, excessive brine will create result in hostility to the fracking method. What likely will happen is that the salty brine will be the new CO2, with every user attempting to dispose of the byproduct.
