ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWS AND CASE STUDIES: Addressing the Societal Costs of Unconventional Oil and Gas Exploration and Production: A Framework for Evaluating Short-Term, Future, and Cumulative Risks and Uncertainties of Hydrofracking

This article proposes a framework for addressing societal costs—psychological, social, community, and human health risks and uncertainties—associated with natural gas extraction and production from tight shale, tight sand, or coal-bed methane formations that use hydraulic fracturing processes. The U...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental practice 2012-12, Vol.14 (4), p.352-365
Main Author: Perry, Simona L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Case studies
Drinking water
Environmental protection
Environmental regulations
Features
Health risks
Hydraulic fracturing
Natural gas
Natural gas industry
Oil and gas exploration
Social impact
Water resources
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Summary:This article proposes a framework for addressing societal costs—psychological, social, community, and human health risks and uncertainties—associated with natural gas extraction and production from tight shale, tight sand, or coal-bed methane formations that use hydraulic fracturing processes. The US Environmental Protection Agency's 2011–14 study of hydraulic fracturing and the risks posed to drinking-water resources is used as a case study of how such a framework could be applied. This report also discusses some of the current regulatory and institutional barriers that make incorporation of societal costs into science-based and proactive decisions regarding unconventional oil and gas exploration and production in the United States more difficult and recommends some general steps for getting past those barriers. Environmental Practice 14:1–14 (2012)
ISSN:1466-0466
1466-0474
DOI:10.1017/S1466046612000336