Post by Logan on Jun 15, 2016 17:08:30 GMT -6
The results of a three-year Colorado State University study on air emissions from natural gas extraction will fuel a state assessment of the human health risks posed by fracking.
A team of CSU researchers carried out the $1.7 million study in Garfield County in northwest Colorado, a major hub for oil and gas activity.
The team's goal was to collect and quantify emissions of volatile organic compounds, a major player in smog development, and methane, a potent greenhouse gas that traps more heat than carbon dioxide. As explained in a CSU press release, they examined emissions from three natural gas extraction activities: drilling, fracking and flowback.
Fracking is the controversial practice of sending high-pressure water, sand and chemicals into underground formations to extract oil and gas. Flowback refers to the last step of completing the well, when groundwater and fracking fluids flow to the surface after injecting water and chemicals into the well.
Read more: www.coloradoan.com/story/news/2016/06/14/state-assess-human-health-risks-fracking/85887394/
A team of CSU researchers carried out the $1.7 million study in Garfield County in northwest Colorado, a major hub for oil and gas activity.
The team's goal was to collect and quantify emissions of volatile organic compounds, a major player in smog development, and methane, a potent greenhouse gas that traps more heat than carbon dioxide. As explained in a CSU press release, they examined emissions from three natural gas extraction activities: drilling, fracking and flowback.
Fracking is the controversial practice of sending high-pressure water, sand and chemicals into underground formations to extract oil and gas. Flowback refers to the last step of completing the well, when groundwater and fracking fluids flow to the surface after injecting water and chemicals into the well.
Read more: www.coloradoan.com/story/news/2016/06/14/state-assess-human-health-risks-fracking/85887394/