Shale gas operations may have significant environmental impacts. The experience gained in the last tens of years, mostly in U.S. where tens of shale gas extraction sites have been implemented, indicates that the associated environmental impacts can be occasionally significant. Much concern exists among people and public administrators. However, the size of potential risks strongly depends on the site characteristics. The European site conditions are quite different than those in the U.S. The project undertook the challenge to work out the methodology to determine this potential, taking into account the site properties of the European shale gas deposits.
Shale gas operation through hydraulic fracturing and waste water injection, as other geo-engineering operations, can induce seismic activity or reactivate existing faults, can create fractures that connect the shale gas production zone to an overlying aquifer, allowing contamination of the groundwater. In addition, air and noise pollution represents another important environmental impact due to the emission of gaseous species and particulate matter associated with drilling operations.
SHEER developed methodologies and procedures to track and model fracture evolution around shale gas exploitation sites and a robust statistically based, multi-parameter methodology to assess environmental impacts and risks across the operational lifecycle of shale gas.
In Europe, many citizens are worried about possible impacts on the environment and the health deriving from exploitation and exploration of shale gas. The European Parliament PETI Committee received more than ten petitions some of which signed by some 15,000 citizens, most calling for a ban or a moratoria on shale gas and/or the use of hydraulic fracturing, on the basis of health and environmental concerns.
Main objectives of the project were: a) development and application of methodologies to assess environmental impacts and risks across the different operational phases; b) identification of plausible scenarios of events or chains of events related with shale gas development that may have an impact on the environment and/or the society; c) development of best practices for assessing and mitigating the environmental footprint of shale gas exploration and exploitation; d) guidelines for monitoring environmental impacts and for the management of natural risks induced by shale gas exploration and exploitation. The objectives have been reached through a probabilistic procedure for assessing short and long-term risks associated with: Groundwater contamination, Air pollution and Induced seismicity, that were monitored in Wysin (Poland) test site.
