Groundwater

The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) on Wednesday adopted protective wellbore integrity rules that Gov. Jared Polis called “the most protective standards in the nation in terms of protecting groundwater in the development of oil and gas.”

A pair of recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions in cases being watched by the oil and natural gas industry has environmental groups claiming victory in the battle over whether pollution moving through groundwater before contaminating federally protected waterbodies constitute Clean Water Act (CWA) violations.

A new study from the University of Arizona and the University of Saskatchewan finds that conventional oil and gas drilling has a greater impact on groundwater than does unconventional drilling.

In a pair of court cases being watched by the oil and gas industry, the Trump Administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether pollution that moves through groundwater before contaminating federally protected waterbodies constitutes a violation of the Clean Water Act (CWA).

A Pennsylvania State University study that utilized reams of data from producers, the state and the U.S. Geological Survey, found little evidence of natural gas contaminating groundwater in Bradford County, a hotbed for unconventional drilling.

A new study by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said natural gas drilling in the Eagle Ford, Fayetteville and Haynesville shales is not a significant source of methane or benzene found in drinking water wells located in areas of drilling operations.

In a stunning reversal, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a final report Tuesday that says hydraulic fracturing (fracking) can affect drinking water under some circumstances, and it identified several conditions where the effects could be more severe.

Early research by chemists at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) has found abnormalities in well water in the Eagle Ford Shale region; however, further investigation is needed to determine the source and extent of contamination, they said.

The Supreme Court of Texas agreed Friday to hear ExxonMobil Corp.’s arguments regarding a dispute with ranch owners in the Permian Basin concerning environmental impacts to freshwater from old oil and natural gas wells.