Permitting program with best management practices for shale gas wells to safeguard public health

Abstract

The development of shale gas resources in the United States has been controversial as governments have been tardy in devising sufficient safeguards to protect both people and the environment. Alleged health and environmental damages suggest that other countries around the world that decide to develop their shale gas resources can learn from these problems and take further actions to prevent situations resulting in the release of harmful pollutants. Looking at U.S. federal regulations governing large animal operations under the permitting provisions of the Clean Water Act, the idea of a permitting program is proposed to respond to the risks of pollution by shale gas development activities. Governments can require permits before allowing the drilling of a new gas well. Each permit would include fluids and air emissions reduction plans containing best management practices to minimize risks and releases of pollutants. The public availability of permits and permit applications, as occurs for water pollution under various U.S. permitting programs, would assist governments in protecting public health. The permitting proposals provide governments a means for providing further assurances that shale gas development projects will not adversely affect people and the environment.

Quantitative assessment of the environmental risks of geothermal energy: A review

“…There are, in addition, lessons from health risk assessment in other energy sectors, such as shale gas. Similar to geothermal energy, shale gas development also causes pollution of water, land and air, bringing harm to public health (Centner and Petetin, 2015). Some studies use inverse distance weighted number of shale gas wells or an "activity index" to define exposure (Stacy et al, 2015;Casey et al, 2016), while others adopt measures of health indices or birth weight (Hill, 2018).…”

Measuring the air pollution cost of shale gas development in China

“…10 In addition to global warming, air pollutants from shale gas wells may harm people. 11 Using detailed location data of maternal addresses and GIS coordinates of gas wells, Hill 12 examined singleton births to mothers residing close to a shale gas well from 2003 to 2010 in Pennsylvania. In the intensive margin, an additional well is associated with a 7% increase in low birth weight, a 5 g reduction in term birth weight and a 3% increase in premature birth.…”

How to Adapt Chemical Risk Assessment for Unconventional Hydrocarbon Extraction Related to the Water System

“…Environmental legislation is found at various institutional levels, including the international, regional (e.g., EU), national/federal, and subnational (e.g., state, supra-local, and local) levels. Neither at the international level nor at the US federal and the EU levels, specific regulations for UO&G-related activities are in place to protect environmental and human health (Geraets and Reins 2016;Centner and Petetin 2015;Lange et al 2013). Instead, both in the EU and the USA, there is a vast body of general legislation that is or can be applicable to UO&G operations.…”