Researchers Nathan Richardon and Hal Gordon of the non-profit group Resources for the Future, have boiled shale gas drilling’s largest risks down to four problems, according to Phys.org.

The problems

Richardson and Gordon surveyed 215 experts, who were asked to rank 264 separate drilling threats from the most serious to the least serious. The experts were a cross-section of government agencies, the oil and gas industry, academia and non-government organizations.

Twelve risks were ranked as a top priority by all four groups.

Gordon announced the findings at a two-day session at the National Academy of Engineering’s shale gas conference in Cleveland, Ohio.

Read it:

“Seven of the 12 threats all four survey groups cited were linked to surface water, two to air emissions, two to groundwater and one to the drilling site’s construction, Gordon said.”

To read the whole report, “Pathways to Dialogue: What the Experts Say about the Environmental Risks of Shale Gas Development” visit this website: www.rff.org/shaleexpertsurvey

EPA study

Experts agree that the storage and treatment of liquid drilling wastes, methane emissions, water usage and site construction are among shale gas development’s biggest problems.

The  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is currently studying the possible threat facing poses to drinking water, but the agency doesn’t expect to complete the study until 2016. A preliminary report will probably be released in late 2014.

» Via: Phys.org › Survey finds consensus on shale drilling’s biggest risks