USA/#gaz_de_schiste: #eau potable polluée
▻http://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-actu/2013/07/30/97001-20130730FILWWW00321-usagaz-de-schiste-eau-potable-polluee.php?page=
Aux Etats-Unis, le forage de gaz naturel a causé « des dommages significatifs » à l’eau potable de la ville de #Dimock, en Pennsylvanie. C’est un rapport interne de l’office régional de l’Agence de protection de l’environnement américaine (#EPA) qui le dit. Il prend le contre-pied des affirmations de l’entreprise exploitante, Cabot Oil and Gas Corp, qui assurait que l’explosion des niveaux de #méthane contenus dans l’eau était un phénomène naturel.
« Du méthane est relâché lors du forage et peut-être lors de la #fracturation_hydraulique », souligne le rapport, obtenu par l’agence de presse Bloomberg et relayé par le Washington Post . Il est basé sur une analyse chimique des quantité de méthane contenues dans les puits de la région. L’EPA a déclaré que les recherches sont encore à un stade préliminaire.
Internal EPA report highlights disputes over fracking and well water - latimes.com
▻http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-epa-dimock-20130728,0,4847442.story
In an internal EPA PowerPoint presentation obtained by the Tribune/Los Angeles Times Washington Bureau, staff members warned their superiors that several wells had been contaminated with methane and substances such as manganese and arsenic, most likely because of local natural gas production.
The presentation, based on data collected over 4 1/2 years at 11 wells around Dimock, concluded that “methane and other gases released during drilling (including air from the drilling) apparently cause significant damage to the water quality.” The presentation also concluded that “methane is at significantly higher concentrations in the aquifers after gas drilling and perhaps as a result of fracking [hydraulic fracturing] and other gas well work.”
Critics say the decision in July 2012 by EPA headquarters in Washington to curtail its investigation at Dimock over the objection of its on-site staff fits a troubling pattern at a time when the Obama administration has used the sharp increase in natural gas production to rebut claims that it is opposed to fossil fuels.