The environmental debate over the use of hydraulic fracturing in the unconventional gas industry is set to intensify.
At least one Australian shale gas company is calling for a ban on toxic chemicals used in the process following a damning report by the US Environmental Protection Agency, The Australian Financial Review reported yesterday.
The EPA for the first time linked water contamination with hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, when it issued a draft report on Friday from its two monitoring wells in central Wyoming that were drilled to a depth of 1000 feet (304.8 metres).
While critics have pointed out the EPA's findings are not conclusive, it seems to debunk two key arguments that the oil and gas industry have used to defend the controversial practice of fracking - that the extreme depth at which the process takes place will keep contaminants far from drinking water and hydrologic pressure will naturally push fluids down.
Central Petroleum managing director John Heugh said the Australian government should mandate that the industry use only non-toxic chemical solutions to make fracking fluids.
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