Collaborative efforts
Researchers from Kent State and Duke Universities have been working together analyzing reports from Marcellus Shale drilling sites throughout Pennsylvania—some with conventional wells, some that were “fracked.”  The latest paper is on waste water.  

Facts and belief
Brian Lutz, now associate professor of biochemistry at Kent, worked on it He says they found good news and bad for both advocates and opponents of fracking.  It turns out to be far more efficient in terms of waste water than conventional drilling.  “On a per-unit energy basis shale wells are producing only one third the amount of waste water when we compare them to conventional wells.”

But, because fracked wells are more effective, a lot more are drilled; making the total volume of waste water greater—even if it is less per cubit yard of gas.  And what does all this mean for the ongoing debate over fracking? [Lutz]“This is simply the information. These are tradeoffs that both the industry and environmental advocates are going to have to tangle with so that they can make informed decisions.”