Over the past several decades, U.S. industries have injected more than 30 trillion gallons of toxic liquid deep into the earth, using broad expanses of the nation's geology as an invisible dumping ground.

No company would be allowed to pour such dangerous chemicals into the rivers or onto the soil. But until recently, scientists and environmental officials have assumed that deep layers of rock beneath the earth would safely entomb the waste for millennia.

There are growing signs they were mistaken.

Records from disparate corners of the United States show that wells drilled to bury this waste deep beneath the ground have repeatedly leaked, sending dangerous chemicals and waste gurgling to the surface or, on occasion, seeping into shallow aquifers that store a significant portion of the nation's drinking water.

In 2010, contaminants from such a well bubbled up in a west Los Angeles dog park. Within the past three years, similar fountains of oil and gas drilling waste have appeared in Oklahoma and Louisiana. In South Florida, 20 of the nation's most stringently regulated disposal wells failed in the early 1990s, releasing partly treated sewage into aquifers that may one day be needed to supply Miami's drinking water.

There are more than 680,000 underground waste and injection wells nationwide, more than 150,000 of which shoot industrial fluids thousands of feet below the surface. Scientists and federal regulators acknowledge they do not know how many of the sites are leaking.

Federal officials and many geologists insist that the risks posed by all this dumping are minimal. Accidents are uncommon, they say, and groundwater reserves — from which most Americans get their drinking water — remain safe and far exceed any plausible threat posed by injecting toxic chemicals into the ground.

But in interviews, several key experts acknowledged that the idea that injection is safe rests on science that has not kept pace with reality, and on oversight that doesn't always work.

"In 10 to 100 years we are going to find out that most of our groundwater is polluted," said Mario Salazar, an engineer who worked for 25 years as a technical expert with the EPA's underground injection program in Washington. "A lot of people are going to get sick, and a lot of people may die."

The boom in oil and natural gas drilling is deepening the uncertainties, geologists acknowledge. Drilling produces copious amounts of waste, burdening regulators and demanding hundreds of additional disposal wells. Those wells — more holes punched in the ground — are changing the earth's geology, adding man-made fractures that allow water and waste to flow more freely.

"There is no certainty at all in any of this, and whoever tells you the opposite is not telling you the truth,' said Stefan Finsterle, a leading hydrogeologist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory who specializes in understanding the properties of rock layers and modeling how fluid flows through them. "You have changed the system with pressure and temperature and fracturing, so you don't know how it will behave."

A ProPublica review of well records, case histories and government summaries of more than 220,000 well inspections found that structural failures inside injection wells are routine. From late 2007 to late 2010, one well integrity violation was issued for every six deep injection wells examined — more than 17,000 violations nationally. More than 7,000 wells showed signs that their walls were leaking. Records also show wells are frequently operated in violation of safety regulations and under conditions that greatly increase the risk of fluid leakage and the threat of water contamination.

25 Comments

1. 1. the Gaul 02:55 PM 6/21/12

   Fossil fuel companies: "We're going to squeeze every last drop of oil out of this continent, even if it takes the life of every man, woman & child."
   
   Why don't they just set off a nuke in Yellowstone and get it over with? The Indians should have kicked the Spanish and other Europeans back to the old world. Hard.

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2. 2. bernardpalmer 04:28 PM 6/21/12

   Maybe this is the answer.
   
   "The cavitation hydrovibrator is a proprietary green technology that operates using pure water, without the use of any of the 200 chemicals traditionally used in fracking that damage the environment and contaminate water tables. The cavitation hydrovibrator is mounted in a drilling line and inserted into a vertical or horizontal borehole at the appropriate stratum level. Pressured water is fed to the cavitation hydrovibrator inlet through the drilling line using a drill pump. "
   
   http://smarteconomy.typepad.com/smart_economy/2009/12/a-green-alternative-to-chemicalbased-hydraulic-fracturing-or-fracking-for-shale-gas-drillingcavitati.html

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3. 3. Profitsup 04:29 PM 6/21/12

   This is the kind of misquoted OPINION article that create a major division about what is really occurring - There are few if any evidence where a fraking well fluids contaminated existing water wells. There have been chemical spills and they were cleaned up.
   
   The author says there are 680,000 underground waste and injection wells. There are not 680,000 wells from fraking he is mixing cherries and watermelons.
   
   The underground waters of the geysers in the National parks are much more toxic than any industrial or fraking liquid. They boil up from the depths of earth in molten rocks carrying acids, metals, and are high in mineral content. yes, Mother nature makes some toxic teas all on her own.

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4. 4. Bops in reply to Profitsup 05:19 PM 6/21/12

   The problem with your comment, Profitsup... is that it lacks common sense, because people do not live near geysers, and other natural toxic areas.
   
   And the proof of water contamination is showing up all over the US and other parts of the world.
   
   People are not stupid. Shame on you, making money by poising people.

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5. 5. Bops 05:30 PM 6/21/12

   Sorry, poisoning... spelled wrong.
   There are just too many reck-less, greedy, con-artist standing in the way of a better life for everyone.
   There's cleaner ways to do almost everything.

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6. 6. epeter 05:52 PM 6/21/12

   Well as long as "Profitsup" nothing will be done about this travesty. As we have recently learned, corporations are "people" but are MANDATED to have NO Heart! They are actually expected to BREAK THE LAW if it's cheaper than complying and it increases their profit. By law they must do whatever they can to make a profit for their "investors". Sick,Sick ,Sick!
   
   priddseren (comment above) states the problem sarcastically but correctly; CEOs certainly will not be around to have to deal with this time-bomb and and their very rich descendants will rule over the mutant public from their sterilized under-ground nuclear bunkers.

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7. 7. ssm1959 06:38 PM 6/21/12

   The article carefully leaves one issue unaddressed, that is that the fracking protocols that were used on these older wells are several generations old. New technology is already addressing many of these concerns. Soon the type of technology cited by bernardpalmer above will be replacing the chemical mix in current use. Why the change? because it is economically more efficient to do so.
   
   

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8. 8. Cramer in reply to Profitsup 06:42 PM 6/21/12

   Profitsup wrote, "The author says there are 680,000 underground waste and injection wells. There are not 680,000 wells from fraking he is mixing cherries and watermelons."
   
   The author, Abrahm Lustgarten, wrote, "There are more than 680,000 underground waste and injection wells nationwide, more than 150,000 of which shoot industrial fluids thousands of feet below the surface."
   
   Lustgarten NEVER claimed that 680,000 wells were from fracking. He said there were over 150,000 wells used for "industrial fluids." These are Class 1 and Class 2 wells (mostly Class 2 wells). Fracking waste water is pumped into Class 2 wells.
   
   Profitsup, do you know the number of wells used for fracking waste water injection? If so, please provide your number and source.
   
   Maybe the article should have been better titled. Very little was mentioned about fracking through the entire article. The article primarily addressed the injection of all industrial waste water (Class 1 and 2 wells). But, does it really matter? The concern is with the integrity of injection wells which is an issue with fracking and the disposal of waste water from fracking (which the contaminants -- benzene, etc, -- are considered proprietary).

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9. 9. Abrahm Lustgarten in reply to Profitsup 08:19 PM 6/21/12

   As the author of this article, I just want to clarify: Nowhere does this article discuss fracking wells or say that there are 680,000 fracked wells (there are actually many more) but if you read what I have published today it is about a different topic really -- waste across all industries that is handled under a separate, federally regulated program. Geologists are concerned that the fractures underground are increasing permeability for all underground fluids. I appreciate your interest and taking the time to comment.

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10. 10. tharter in reply to Abrahm Lustgarten 08:44 PM 6/21/12

    Thanks, it was a fine article. Clearly it isn't easy to even do a good piece on something about which there are so many unknowns. At least it is certainly hard to come to definitive conclusions. I think you successfully communicated the primary message, that there's a lot of optimistic thinking and severe pressure to just declare it all 'not a problem' when indeed it could be anything from a localized problem in a few areas all the way up to a vast ecological catastrophe in the making.
    
    I must say, I'm not optimistic. We're far too cavalier about dumping waste about (and many other things), but I guess we'll see...

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11. 11. JoeTex 07:43 AM 6/22/12

    The problem with wellbores in gas fields is that, as they age, the wellbore becomes a pathway for gas to rise into groundwater. This can occur outside the outer cement casing, since the cement does not adhere to the surrounding rock, and, over time, it shrinks and cracks, enabling gas to vent up the wellbore. This is a common problem in fields where wellbores go through multiple shallow gas bearing formations that are above shale gas targets - such as the Marcellus in NE Pa. The wellbore does not have to be a gas well. An injection well will suffice.

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12. 12. evosburgh in reply to Abrahm Lustgarten 10:43 AM 6/22/12

    So then the title was meant to grab people's attention with a loaded word but not meant to convey the subject matter?

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13. 13. Cramer in reply to evosburgh 02:37 PM 6/22/12

    Or it could be that the title of the article was chosen correctly, but the introductory and concluding paragraphs were poorly written by not conveying a message of where the greatest risks exist: disposing of proprietary (i.e. secret) fracking fluids.
    
    Here's an EPA study that includes info on fracking waste:
    
    http://www.epa.gov/hfstudy/HF_Study__Plan_110211_FINAL_508.pdf
    

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14. 14. Eco_steve 07:58 AM 6/24/12

    An individual who puts poison in water supplies is termed a terrorist and is sent to prison. The same justice should be applied to frackers...Or is it a case that the rich escape justice?

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15. 15. Martin Wirth in reply to Abrahm Lustgarten 11:53 AM 6/24/12

    The title of Lustgarten's excellent article is so extremely reserved that it borders on tongue-in-cheek. This would more accurately be titled "Fracking Wastewater Wells ARE Poisoning Aquifers and Drinking Water".
    
    Bribery of public officials is routine business in the USA, hence the missing EPA data and an agency that destroys evidence for the sake of the oil, chemical, and waste disposal companies. Pass a bribe to your congress person to get them to lean on the agency that collects evidence of malfeasance and harm done to the public. This is the usual method to avoid being prosecuted for crimes done by those that have the means.
    
    In view of the spotty integrity on the part of government agencies, any reasonable person will anticipate that geologists hired by oil companies and others selling wastewater fracking are screened to ensure compliance and spinelessness in the service of corporate dishonesty. In my view, their reassuring lies about the possibility of their poison flowing into our aquifers are worth no more than the waste itself.
    
    These corporations must be dissolved as a public menace so that the individuals that have poisoned our water for their personal enrichment are held personally accountable for every man, woman, and child that they have sickened and murdered as well as property damages ensuing from aquifer contamination.
    

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16. 16. PapaTango72 08:43 AM 6/25/12

    MAY pose a risk? I guess it wasn't IMPORTANT until people in L.A. realized their water was being poisoned?
    Ask the thousands of people in Pennsylvania whose water that they depend on for drinking, preparinbg meals and washing their children what to do, now that their water is FLAMMABLE.

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17. 17. SolutionOriented 02:21 PM 6/26/12

    This is another of those environmental stories where the interested parties all take their perfunctory places in the debate. The oilies claim vast knowledge and technical capability, the enviros scream, emotion and passion and the regulators play catch-up. Why can't there be another approach, where everyone gives up their role in favor of having EPA name a technical review panel that makes regulatory recommendations that everyone understands. Such a panel might begin with a clear description of what is known and what is unknown, make a list of priority data collections and analysis needed to resolve a priority listing of the unknowns and then everyone would at least be on the same page.
    
    It's just too boring, not to mention expensive, to wait for everyone to repeat the same boring script before buckling down to the science.

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18. 18. DaleRow 05:25 PM 6/27/12

    GasFrac has a process that does not use water, therefore no waste water to be concerned about. check at gasfrac.com

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19. 19. babby 02:27 AM 6/28/12

    Yup, tharter, I'm not optimistic either. But, as they say, "money talks, bs walks," and that has produced the dangerous world we're busily creating. It's our kids & grand kids who will be paying the price, though. Anyone see the movie "Idiotcracy"? A very relevant flick that was almost still-born. It came out in 2006, but for I-can't-remember-what reason, never made it to the theaters. I did find a DVD of it at Barnes & Noble, though.

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20. 20. banfrackingni 04:50 PM 9/5/12

    Help us keep Ireland Frack Free. Anyone can sign this. Thanks http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/northern-ireland-no-fracking-required-here.html

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21. 21. has20birds 12:36 AM 9/6/12

    https://dontfractureillinois.org/
    
    My friends and I have been very busy shining the light on the problems this practice creates. We're attempting to keep frackers from creating wastewater wells in the sandstone near the New Madrid and Walbash faults located between the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers in Southern Illinois. I'm very excited about what your research shows.

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22. 22. has20birds 12:45 AM 9/6/12

    Ooops. Wabash
    

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23. 23. has20birds 12:57 AM 9/6/12

    "Fracking shale moves water that could meet up with naturally occurring fractures in sandstone and result in faster movement to the surface [aquifers]," Myers said.
    
    http://truth-out.org/news/item/9076-the-potential-for-fracking-fluids-to-reach-freshwater-aquifers
    

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24. 24. Doug Sheridan 02:19 AM 11/20/12

    EnergyPoint Research wrote a piece about risks associated with the handling of water a couple months back. Rather than recount it's points in this forum, here's the link...http://energypointresearch.com/oilfield-insights/archives/705

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25. 25. RevBren in reply to Abrahm Lustgarten 01:59 PM 4/26/13

    Great article!

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