The SEAB Shale Gas Production Subcommittee

Ninety-Day Report – August 11, 2011

Executive Summary

The Shale Gas Subcommittee of the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board is charged with 

identifying measures that can be taken to reduce the environmental impact and improve 

the safety of shale gas production. 

Natural gas is a cornerstone of the U.S. economy, providing a quarter of the country’s 

total energy. Owing to breakthroughs in technology, production from shale formations 

has gone from a negligible amount just a few years ago to being almost 30 percent of 

total U.S. natural gas production. This has brought lower prices, domestic jobs, and the 

prospect of enhanced national security due to the potential of substantial production 

growth. But the growth has also brought questions about whether both current and 

future production can be done in an environmentally sound fashion that meets the needs 

of public trust.

This 90-day report presents recommendations that if implemented will reduce the 

environmental impacts from shale gas production. The Subcommittee stresses the 

importance of a process of continuous improvement in the various aspects of shale gas 

production that relies on best practices and is tied to measurement and disclosure. 

While many companies are following such a process, much-broader and more extensive 

adoption is warranted. The approach benefits all parties in shale gas production: 

regulators will have more complete and accurate information; industry will achieve more 

efficient operations; and the public will see continuous, measurable improvement in 

shale gas activities. 

A list of the Subcommittee’s findings and recommendations follows.

o Improve public information about shale gas operations: Create a portal for 

access to a wide range of public information on shale gas development, to 

include current data available from state and federal regulatory agencies. The 

portal should be open to the public for use to study and analyze shale gas

operations and results.
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o Improve communication among state and federal regulators: Provide continuing 

annual support to STRONGER (the State Review of Oil and Natural Gas 

Environmental Regulation) and to the Ground Water Protection Council for 

expansion of the Risk Based Data Management System and similar projects that 

can be extended to all phases of shale gas development. 

o Improve air quality: Measures should be taken to reduce emissions of air 

pollutants, ozone precursors, and methane as quickly as practicable. The 

Subcommittee supports adoption of rigorous standards for new and existing 

sources of methane, air toxics, ozone precursors and other air pollutants from 

shale gas operations. The Subcommittee recommends: 

(1) Enlisting a subset of producers in different basins to design and rapidly 

implement measurement systems to collect comprehensive methane and other 

air emissions data from shale gas operations and make these data publically 

available;

(2) Immediately launching a federal interagency planning effort to acquire data 

and analyze the overall greenhouse gas footprint of shale gas operations through 

out the lifecycle of natural gas use in comparison to other fuels; and 

(3) Encouraging shale-gas production companies and regulators to expand

immediately efforts to reduce air emissions using proven technologies and 

practices.

o Protection of water quality: The Subcommittee urges adoption of a systems

approach to water management based on consistent measurement and public 

disclosure of the flow and composition of water at every stage of the shale gas 

production process. The Subcommittee recommends the following actions by 

shale gas companies and regulators – to the extent that such actions have not 

already been undertaken by particular companies and regulatory agencies:

(1) Measure and publicly report the composition of water stocks and flow 

throughout the fracturing and clean-up process.

(2) Manifest all transfers of water among different locations.

(3) Adopt best practices in well development and construction, especially 

casing, cementing, and pressure management. Pressure testing of cemented

casing and state-of-the-art cement bond logs should be used to confirm 

formation isolation. Microseismic surveys should be carried out to assure that 

hydraulic fracture growth is limited to the gas producing 

formations. Regulations and inspections are needed to confirm that operators 
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have taken prompt action to repair defective cementing jobs. The regulation 

of shale gas development should include inspections at safety-critical stages 

of well construction and hydraulic fracturing. 

(4) Additional field studies on possible methane leakage from shale gas wells 

to water reservoirs. 

(5) Adopt requirements for background water quality measurements (e.g.,

existing methane levels in nearby water wells prior to drilling for gas) and 

report in advance of shale gas production activity. 

(6) Agencies should review field experience and modernize rules and 

enforcement practices to ensure protection of drinking and surface waters.

o Disclosure of fracturing fluid composition: The Subcommittee shares the 

prevailing view that the risk of fracturing fluid leakage into drinking water sources 

through fractures made in deep shale reservoirs is remote. Nevertheless the 

Subcommittee believes there is no economic or technical reason to prevent 

public disclosure of all chemicals in fracturing fluids, with an exception for 

genuinely proprietary information. While companies and regulators are moving in 

this direction, progress needs to be accelerated in light of public concern.

o Reduction in the use of diesel fuel: The Subcommittee believes there is no 

technical or economic reason to use diesel in shale gas production and 

recommends reducing the use of diesel engines for surface power in favor of 

natural gas engines or electricity where available.

o Managing short-term and cumulative impacts on communities, land use, wildlife, 

and ecologies. Each relevant jurisdiction should pay greater attention to the 

combination of impacts from multiple drilling, production and delivery activities

(e.g., impacts on air quality, traffic on roads, noise, visual pollution), and make 

efforts to plan for shale development impacts on a regional scale. Possible 

mechanisms include: 

(1) Use of multi-well drilling pads to minimize transport traffic and need for 

new road construction. 

(2) Evaluation of water use at the scale of affected watersheds. 

(3) Formal notification by regulated entities of anticipated environmental and 

community impacts. 
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(4) Preservation of unique and/or sensitive areas as off-limits to drilling and 

support infrastructure as determined through an appropriate science-based 

process. 

(5) Undertaking science-based characterization of important landscapes, 

habitats and corridors to inform planning, prevention, mitigation and 

reclamation of surface impacts. 

(6) Establishment of effective field monitoring and enforcement to inform ongoing assessment of cumulative community and land use impacts.

The process for addressing these issues must afford opportunities for affected 

communities to participate and respect for the rights of surface and mineral rights 

owners.

o Organizing for best practice: The Subcommittee believes the creation of a shale 

gas industry production organization dedicated to continuous improvement of 

best practice, defined as improvements in techniques and methods that rely on 

measurement and field experience, is needed to improve operational and 

environmental outcomes. The Subcommittee favors a national approach

including regional mechanisms that recognize differences in geology, land use, 

water resources, and regulation. The Subcommittee is aware that several 

different models for such efforts are under discussion and the Subcommittee will 

monitor progress during its next ninety days. The Subcommittee has identified 

several activities that deserve priority attention for developing best practices: 

Air: (a) Reduction of pollutants and methane emissions from all shale gas 

production/delivery activity. (b) Establishment of an emission 

measurement and reporting system at various points in the production 

chain. 

Water: (a) Well completion – casing and cementing including use of 

cement bond and other completion logging tools. (b) Minimizing water use 

and limiting vertical fracture growth.

o Research and Development needs. The public should expect significant 

technical advances associated with shale gas production that will significantly 

improve the efficiency of shale gas production and that will reduce environmental 

impact. The move from single well to multiple-well pad drilling is one clear

example. Given the economic incentive for technical advances, much of the R&D 

will be performed by the oil and gas industry. Nevertheless the federal 

government has a role especially in basic R&D, environment protection, and 
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safety. The current level of federal support for unconventional gas R&D is small,

and the Subcommittee recommends that the Administration and the Congress 

set an appropriate mission for R&D and level funding.

The Subcommittee believes that these recommendations, combined with a continuing 

focus on and clear commitment to measurable progress in implementation of best 

practices based on technical innovation and field experience, represent important steps 

toward meeting public concerns and ensuring that the nation’s resources are responsibly 

being responsibly developed. 

Introduction

On March 31, 2011, President Barack Obama declared that “recent innovations have 

given us the opportunity to tap large reserves – perhaps a century’s worth” of shale gas. 

In order to facilitate this development, ensure environmental protection, and meet public 

concerns, he instructed Secretary of Energy Steven Chu to form a subcommittee of the 

Secretary of Energy Advisory Board (SEAB) to make recommendations to address the 

safety and environmental performance of shale gas production.1 The Secretary’s charge 

to the Subcommittee, included in Annex A, requested that:

Within 90 days of its first meeting, the Subcommittee will report to SEAB on the 

“immediate steps that can be taken to improve the safety and environmental 

performance of fracturing.

This is the 90-day report submitted by the Subcommittee to SEAB in fulfillment of its 

charge. There will be a second report of the Subcommittee after 180 days. Members of 

the Subcommittee are given in Annex B.

Context for the Subcommittee’s deliberations

The Subcommittee believes that the U.S. shale gas resource has enormous potential to 

provide economic and environmental benefits for the county. Shale gas is a widely 

distributed resource in North America that can be relatively cheaply produced, creating 

jobs across the country. Natural gas – if properly produced and transported – also offers 

climate change advantages because of its low carbon content compared to coal. 
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Domestic production of shale gas also has the potential over time to reduce dependence 

on imported oil for the United States. International shale gas production will increase the 

diversity of supply for other nations. Both these developments offer important national 

security benefits.2

The development of shale gas in the United States has been very rapid. Natural gas 

from all sources is one of America’s major fuels, providing about 25 percent of total U.S. 

energy. Shale gas, in turn, was less than two percent of total U.S. natural gas 

production in 2001. Today, it is approaching 30 percent. 3 But it was only around 2008 

that the significance of shale gas began to be widely recognized. Since then, output has 

increased four-fold. It has brought new regions into the supply mix. Output from the 

Haynesville shale, mostly in Louisiana, for example, was negligible in 2008; today, the 

Haynesville shale alone produces eight percent of total U.S. natural gas output. 

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the rapid expansion of 

shale gas production is expected to continue in the future. The EIA projects shale gas to 
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be 46 percent of domestic production by 2035. The following figure shows the stunning 

change.

The economic significance is potentially very large. While estimates vary, well over

200,000 of jobs (direct, indirect, and induced) have been created over the last several 

years by the development of domestic production of shale gas, and tens of thousands 

more will be created in the future.

4 As late as 2007, before the impact of the shale gas 

revolution, it was assumed that the United States would be importing large amounts of 

liquefied natural gas from the Middle East and other areas. Today, the United States is 

essentially self-sufficient in natural gas, with the only notable imports being from Canada, 

and expected to remain so for many decades. The price of natural gas has fallen by 

more than a factor of two since 2008, benefiting consumers in the lower cost of home 

heating and electricity. 
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The rapid expansion of production is rooted in change in applications of technology and 

field practice. It had long been recognized that substantial supplies of natural gas were 

embedded in shale rock. But it was only in 2002 and 2003 that the combination of two 

technologies working together – hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling – made shale 

gas commercial. 

These factors have brought new regions into the supply mix. Parts of the country, such 

as regions of the Appalachian mountain states where the Marcellus Shale is located, 

which have not experienced significant oil and gas development for decades, are now 

undergoing significant development pressure. Pennsylvania, for example, which 

produced only one percent of total dry gas production in 2009, is one of the most active 

new areas of development. Even states with a history of oil and gas development, such 

as Wyoming and Colorado, have experienced significant development pressures in new 

areas of the state where unconventional gas is now technically and economically 

accessible due to changes in drilling and development technologies.

The urgency of addressing environmental consequences

As with all energy use, shale gas must be produced in a manner that prevents, 

minimizes and mitigates environmental damage and the risk of accidents and protects 

public health and safety. Public concern and debate about the production of shale gas 

has grown as shale gas output has expanded. 

The Subcommittee identifies four major areas of concern: (1) Possible pollution of 

drinking water from methane and chemicals used in fracturing fluids; (2) Air pollution; (3) 

Community disruption during shale gas production; and (4) Cumulative adverse impacts 

that intensive shale production can have on communities and ecosystems. 

There are serious environmental impacts underlying these concerns and these adverse 

environmental impacts need to be prevented, reduced and, where possible, eliminated 

as soon as possible. Absent effective control, public opposition will grow, thus putting 

continued production at risk. Moreover, with anticipated increase in U.S. hydraulically 

fractured wells, if effective environmental action is not taken today, the potential 

environmental consequences will grow to a point that the country will be faced a more 
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serious problem. Effective action requires both strong regulation and a shale gas 

industry in which all participating companies are committed to continuous improvement.

The rapid expansion of production and rapid change in technology and field practice, 

requires federal and state agencies to adapt and evolve their regulations. Industry’s 

pursuit of more efficient operations often has environmental as well as economic 

benefits, including waste minimization, greater gas recovery, less water usage, and a 

reduced operating footprint. So there are many reasons to be optimistic that continuous 

improvement of shale gas production in reducing existing and potential undesirable 

impacts can be a cooperative effort among the public, companies in the industry, and 

regulators. 

Subcommittee scope, procedure and outline of this report

Scope: The Subcommittee has focused exclusively on production of natural gas (and 

some liquid hydrocarbons) from shale formations with hydraulic fracturing stimulation in 

either vertical or horizontal wells. The Subcommittee is aware that some of the 

observations and recommendations in this report could lead to extension of its findings

to other oil and gas operations, but our intention is to focus singularly on issues related 

to shale gas development. We caution against applying our findings to other areas, 

because the Subcommittee has not considered the different development practices and

other types of geology, technology, regulation and industry practice. 

These shale plays in different basins have different geological characteristics and occur 

in areas with very different water resources. In the Eagle Ford, in Texas, there is almost 

no flow-back water from an operating well following hydraulic fracturing, while in the 

Marcellus, primarily in Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, the flow-back 

water is between 20 and 40 percent of the injected volume. This geological diversity 

means that engineering practice and regulatory oversight will differ widely among 

regions of the country.

The Subcommittee describes in this report a comprehensive and collaborative approach 

to managing risk in shale gas production. The Subcommittee believes that a more 

systematic commitment to a process of continuous improvement to identify and 
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implement best practices is needed, and should be embraced by all companies in the 

shale gas industry. Many companies already demonstrate their commitment to the kind 

of process we describe here, but the public should be confident that this is the practice 

across the industry.

This process should involve discussions and other collaborative efforts among 

companies involved in shale gas production (including service companies), state and 

federal regulators, and affected communities and public interests groups. The process 

should identify best practices that evolve as operational experience increases, 

knowledge of environmental effects and effective mitigation grows, and know-how and 

technology changes. It should also be supported by technology peer reviews that report

on individual companies’ performance and should be seen as a compliment to, not a 

substitute for, strong regulation and effective enforcement. There will be three benefits:

o For industry: As all firms move to adopt identified best practices, continuous 

improvement has the potential to both enhance production efficiency and reduce 

environmental impacts over time. 

o For regulators: Sharing data and best practices will better inform regulators and 

help them craft policies and regulations that will lead to sounder and more 

efficient environmental practices than are now in place. 

o For the public: Continuous improvement coupled with rigorous regulatory 

oversight can provide confidence that processes are in place that will result in 

improved safety and less environmental and community impact.

The realities of regional diversity of shale gas resources and rapid change in production 

practices and technology mean that a single best engineering practice cannot set for all 

locations and for all time. Rather, the appropriate starting point is to understand what 

are regarded as “best practices” today, how the current regulatory system works in the 

context of those operating in different parts of the country, and establishing a culture of 

continuous improvement. 

The Subcommittee has considered the safety and environmental impact of all steps in 

shale gas production, not just hydraulic fracturing.

5

 Shale gas production consists of 
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several steps, from well design and surface preparation, to drilling and cementing steel 

casing at multiple stages of well construction, to well completion. The various steps 

include perforation, water and fracturing fluid preparation, multistage hydraulic fracturing, 

collection and handling of flow-back and produced water, gas collection, processing and 

pipeline transmission, and site remediation.6 Each of these activities has safety and 

environmental risks that are addressed by operators and by regulators in different ways 

according to location. In light of these processes, the Subcommittee interprets its 

charge to assess this entire system, rather than just hydraulic fracturing. 

The Subcommittee’s charge is not to assess the balance of the benefits of shale gas use 

against these environmental costs. Rather, the Subcommittee’s charge is to identify 

steps that can be taken to reduce the environmental and safety risks associated with 

shale gas development and, importantly, give the public concrete reason to believe that 

environmental impacts will be reduced and well managed on an ongoing basis, and that 

problems will be mitigated and rapidly corrected, if and when they occur. 

It is not within the scope of the Subcommittee’s 90-day report to make recommendations 

about the proper regulatory roles for state and federal governments. However, the 

Subcommittee emphasizes that effective and capable regulation is essential to protect 

the public interest. The challenges of protecting human health and the environment in 

light of the anticipated rapid expansion of shale gas production require the joint efforts of 

state and federal regulators. This means that resources dedicated to oversight of the 

industry must be sufficient to do the job and that there is adequate regulatory staff at the 

state and federal level with the technical expertise to issue, inspect, and enforce 

regulations. Fees, royalty payments and severance taxes are appropriate sources of 

funds to finance these needed regulatory activities.

The nation has important work to do in strengthening the design of a regulatory system 

that sets the policy and technical foundation to provide for continuous improvement in 

the protection of human health and the environment. While many states and several 

federal agencies regulate aspects of these operations, the efficacy of the regulations is 

far from clear. Raw statistics about enforcement actions and compliance are not 

sufficient to draw conclusions about regulatory effectiveness. Informed conclusions 

about the state of shale gas operations require analysis of the vast amount of data that 
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is publically available, but there are surprisingly few published studies of this publically 

available data. Benchmarking is needed for the efficacy of existing regulations and 

consideration of additional mechanisms for assuring compliance such as disclosure of 

company performance and enforcement history, and operator certification of 

performance subject to stringent fines, if violated. 

Subcommittee Procedure: In the ninety days since its first meeting, the Subcommittee 

met with representatives of industry, the environmental community, state regulators, 

officials of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy, the 

Department of the Interior, both the United States Geologic Survey (USGS) and the 

Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which has responsibility for public land regulation,7

and a number of individuals from industry and not-for-profit groups with relevant 

expertise and interest. The Subcommittee held a public meeting attended by over four 

hundred citizens in Washington Country, PA, and visited several Marcellus shale gas 

sites. The Subcommittee strove to hold all of its meeting in public although the 

Subcommittee held several private working sessions to review what it had learned and 

to deliberate on its course of action. A website is available that contains the 

Subcommittee meeting agendas, material presented to the Subcommittee, and 

numerous public comments.8 

Outline of this report: The Subcommittee findings and recommendations are organized 

in four sections:

o Making information about shale gas production operations more accessible to the 

public – an immediate action. 

o Immediate and longer term actions to reduce environmental and safety risks of 

shale gas operations

o Creation of a Shale Gas Industry Operation organization, on national and/or 

regional basis, committed to continuous improvement of best operating practices.

o R&D needs to improve safety and environmental performance – immediate and 

long term opportunities for government and industry. 
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The common thread in all these recommendations is that measurement and disclosure

are fundamental elements of good practice and policy for all parties. Data enables 

companies to identify changes that improve efficiency and environmental performance 

and to benchmark against the performance of different companies. Disclosure of data 

permits regulators to identify cost/effective regulatory measures that better protect the 

environment and public safety, and disclosure gives the public a way to measure 

progress on reducing risks. 

Making shale gas information available to the public

The Subcommittee has been struck by the enormous difference in perception about the 

consequences of shale gas activities. Advocates state that fracturing has been 

performed safety without significant incident for over 60 years, although modern shale 

gas fracturing of two mile long laterals has only been done for something less than a 

decade. Opponents point to failures and accidents and other environmental impacts, but 

these incidents are typically unrelated to hydraulic fracturing per se and sometimes lack

supporting data about the relationship of shale gas development to incidence and 

consequences.9 An industry response that hydraulic fracturing has been performed 

safely for decades rather than engaging the range of issues concerning the public will 

not succeed.

Some of this difference in perception can be attributed to communication issues. Many 

in the concerned public use the word “fracking” to describe all activities associated with 

shale gas development, rather than just the hydraulic fracturing process itself. Public 

concerns extend to accidents and failures associated with poor well construction and 

operation, surface spills, leaks at pits and impoundments, truck traffic, and the 

cumulative impacts of air pollution, land disturbance and community disruption. 

The Subcommittee believes there is great merit to creating a national database to link as 

many sources of public information as possible with respect to shale gas development 

and production. Much information has been generated over the past ten years by state 

and federal regulatory agencies. Providing ways to link various databases and, where 

possible, assemble data in a comparable format, which are now in perhaps a hundred 

different locations, would permit easier access to data sets by interested parties. 
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Members of the public would be able to assess the current state of environmental 

protection and safety and inform the public of these trends. Regulatory bodies would be 

better able to assess and monitor the trends in enforcement activities. Industry would be 

able to analyze data on production trends and comparative performance in order to 

identify effective practices. 

The Subcommittee recommends creation of this national database. A rough estimate for 

the initial cost is $20 million to structure and construct the linkages necessary for 

assembling this virtual database, and about $5 million annual cost to maintain it. This 

recommendation is not aimed at establishing new reporting requirements. Rather, it 

focuses on creating linkages among information and data that is currently collected and 

technically and legally capable of being made available to the public. What analysis of 

the data should be done is left entirely for users to decide.10 

There are other important mechanisms for improving the availability and usefulness of 

shale gas information among various constituencies. The Subcommittee believes two 

such mechanisms to be exceptionally meritorious (and would be relatively inexpensive to 

expand). 

The first is an existing organization known as STRONGER – the State Review of Oil and 

Natural Gas Environmental Regulation. STRONGER is a not-for-profit organization 

whose purpose is to accomplish genuine peer review of state regulatory activities. The 

peer reviews (conducted by a panel of state regulators, industry representatives, and 

environmental organization representatives with respect to the processes and policies of 

the state under review) are published publicly, and provide a means to share information

about environmental protection strategies, techniques, regulations, and measures for 

program improvement. Too few states participate in STRONGER’s voluntary review of 

state regulatory programs. The reviews allow for learning to be shared by states and the 

expansion of the STRONGER process should be encouraged. The Department of 

Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the American Petroleum Institute 

have supported STRONGER over time.

11 

The second is the Ground Water Protection Council’s project to extend and expand the 

Risk Based Data Management System, which allows states to exchange information 

about defined parameters of importance to hydraulic fracturing operations.12
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The Subcommittee recommends that these two activities be funded at the level of $5 

million per year beginning in FY2012. Encouraging these multi-stakeholder mechanisms 

will help provide greater information to the public, enhancing regulation and improving 

the efficiency of shale gas production. It will also provide support for STRONGER to 

expand its activities into other areas such as air quality, something that the 

Subcommittee encourages the states to do as part of the scope of STRONGER peer 

reviews.

Recommendations for immediate and longer term actions to reduce 

environmental and safety risks of shale gas operations

1. Improvement in air quality by reducing emissions of regulated 

pollutants and methane. 

Shale gas production, including exploration, drilling, venting/flaring, equipment operation, 

gathering, accompanying vehicular traffic, results in the emission of ozone precursors 

(volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and nitrogen oxides), particulates from diesel 

exhaust, toxic air pollutants and greenhouse gases (GHG), such as methane. 

As shale gas operations expand across the nation these air emissions have become an 

increasing matter of concern at the local, regional and national level. Significant air 

quality impacts from oil and gas operations in Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and Texas are 

well documented, and air quality issues are of increasing concern in the Marcellus region 

(in parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New York).13

The Environmental Protection Agency has the responsibility to regulate air emissions

and in many cases delegate its authority to states. On July 28, 2011, EPA proposed 

amendments to its regulations for air emissions for oil and gas operations. If finalized 

and fully implemented, its proposal will reduce emissions of VOCs, air toxics and, 

collaterally, methane. EPA’s proposal does not address many existing types of sources 

in the natural gas production sector, with the notable exception of hydraulically fractured 

well re-completions, at which “green” completions must be used. (“Green” completions 

use equipment that will capture methane and other air contaminants, avoiding its

release.) EPA is under court order to take final action on these clean air measures in 

2012. In addition, a number of states – notably, Wyoming and Colorado – have taken 

proactive steps to address air emissions from oil and gas activities.
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The Subcommittee supports adoption of emission standards for both new and existing 

sources for methane, air toxics, ozone-forming pollutants, and other major airborne 

contaminants resulting from natural gas exploration, production, transportation and 

distribution activities. The Subcommittee also believes that companies should be 

required, as soon as practicable, to measure and disclose air pollution emissions, 

including greenhouse gases, air toxics, ozone precursors and other pollutants. Such 

disclosure should include direct measurements wherever feasible; include 

characterization of chemical composition of the natural gas measured; and be reported 

on a publically accessible website that allows for searching and aggregating by pollutant, 

company, production activity and geography. 

Methane emissions from shale gas drilling, production, gas processing, transmission and 

storage are of particular concern because methane is a potent greenhouse gas: 25 to 72 

times greater warming potential than carbon dioxide on 100-year and 20-year time 

scales respectively.14 Currently, there is great uncertainty about the scale of methane 

emissions.

The Subcommittee recommends three actions to address the air emissions issue. 

First, inadequate data are available about how much methane and other air pollutants 

are emitted by the consolidated production activities of a shale gas operator in a given 

area, with such activities encompassing drilling, fracturing, production, gathering, 

processing of gas and liquids, flaring, storage, and dispatch into the pipeline 

transmission and distribution network. Industry reporting of greenhouse gas emissions 

in 2012 pursuant to EPA’s reporting rule will provide new insights, but will not eliminate 

key uncertainties about the actual amount and variability in emissions. 

The Subcommittee recommends enlisting a subset of producers in different basins, on a 

voluntary basis, to immediately launch projects to design and rapidly implement 

measurement systems to collect comprehensive methane and other air emissions data. 

These pioneering data sets will be useful to regulators and industry in setting 

benchmarks for air emissions from this category of oil and gas production, identifying 

cost-effective procedures and equipment changes that will reduce emissions; and 

guiding practical regulation and potentially avoid burdensome and contentious regulatory 
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procedures. Each project should be conducted in a transparent manner and the results 

should be publicly disclosed.

There needs to be common definitions of the emissions and other parameters that 

should be measured and measurement techniques, so that comparison is possible 

between the data collected from the various projects. Provision should be made for an 

independent technical review of the methodology and results to establish their credibility. 

The Subcommittee will report progress on this proposal during its next phase.

The second recommendation regarding air emissions concerns the need for a thorough 

assessment of the greenhouse gas footprint for cradle-to-grave use of natural gas. This 

effort is important in light of the expectation that natural gas use will expand and 

substitute for other fuels. There have been relatively few analyses done of the question 

of the greenhouse gas footprint over the entire fuel-cycle of natural gas production, 

delivery and use, and little data are available that bear on the question. A recent peerreviewed article reaches a pessimistic conclusion about the greenhouse gas footprint of 

shale gas production and use – a conclusion not widely accepted.

15 DOE’s National 

Energy Technology Laboratory has given an alternative analysis.16 Work has also been 

done for electric power, where natural gas is anticipated increasingly to substitute for 

coal generation, reaching a more favorable conclusion that natural gas results in about 

one-half the equivalent carbon dioxide emissions.17

The Subcommittee believes that additional work is needed to establish the extent of the 

footprint of the natural gas fuel cycle in comparison to other fuels used for electric power 

and transportation because it is an important factor that will be considered when 

formulating policies and regulations affecting shale gas development. These data will 

help answer key policy questions such as the time scale on which natural gas fuel 

switching strategies would produce real climate benefits through the full fuel cycle and 

the level of methane emission reductions that may be necessary to ensure such climate 

benefits are meaningful. 

The greenhouse footprint of the natural gas fuel cycle can be either estimated indirectly 

by using surrogate measures or preferably by collecting actual data where it is 

practicable to do so. In the selection of methods to determine actual emissions, 
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preference should be given to direct measurement wherever feasible, augmented by 

emissions factors that have been empirically validated. Designing and executing a 

comprehensive greenhouse gas footprint study based on actual data – the 

Subcommittee’s recommended approach -- is a major project. It requires agreement on 

measurement equipment, measurement protocols, tools for integrating and analyzing 

data from different regions, over a multiyear period. Since producer, transmission and 

distribution pipelines, end-use storage and natural gas many different companies will 

necessarily be involved. A project of this scale will be expensive. Much of the cost will 

be borne by firms in the natural gas enterprise that are or will be required to collect and 

report air emissions. These measurements should be made as rapidly as practicable. 

Aggregating, assuring quality control and analyzing these data is a substantial task 

involving significant costs that should be underwritten by the federal government.

It is not clear which government agency would be best equipped to manage such a 

project. The Subcommittee recommends that planning for this project should begin 

immediately and that the Office of Science and Technology Policy, should be asked to 

coordinate an interagency effort to identify sources of funding and lead agency 

responsibility. This is a pressing question so a clear blueprint and project timetable 

should be produced within a year. 

Third, the Subcommittee recommends that industry and regulators immediately expand 

efforts to reduce air emissions using proven technologies and practices. Both methane 

and ozone precursors are of concern. Methane leakage and uncontrolled venting of 

methane and other air contaminants in the shale gas production should be eliminated 

except in cases where operators demonstrate capture is technically infeasible, or where 

venting is necessary for safety reasons and where there is no alternative for capturing 

emissions. When methane emissions cannot be captured, they should be flared 

whenever volumes are sufficient to do so. 

Ozone precursors should be reduced by using cleaner engine fuel, deploying vapor 

recovery and other control technologies effective on relevant equipment." Wyoming’s 

emissions rules represent a good starting point for establishing regulatory frameworks 

and for encouraging industry best practices. 
SEAB Shale Gas Production Subcommittee – 90-Day Report – For public comment

19

2. Protecting water supply and water quality. 

The public understandably wants implementation of standards to ensure shale gas 

production does not risk polluting drinking water or lakes and streams. The challenge to 

proper understanding and regulation of the water impacts of shale production is the 

great diversity of water use in different regional shale gas plays and the different pattern 

of state and federal regulation of water resources across the country. The U.S. EPA has 

certain authorities to regulate water resources and it is currently undertaking a two-year 

study under congressional direction to investigate the potential impacts of hydraulic 

fracturing on drinking water resources.18

Water use in shale gas production passes through the following stages: (1) water 

acquisition, (2) drilling and hydraulic fracturing (surface formulation of water, fracturing 

chemicals and sand followed by injection into the shale producing formation at various 

locations), (3) collection of return water, (4) water storage and processing, and (5) water 

treatment and disposal. 

The Subcommittee offers the following observations with regard to these water issues:

(1) Hydraulic fracturing stimulation of a shale gas well requires between 1 and 5 

million gallons of water. While water availability varies across the country, in 

most regions water used in hydraulic fracturing represents a small fraction of total 

water consumption. Nonetheless, in some regions and localities there are 

significant concerns about consumptive water use for shale gas development.19

There is considerable debate about the water intensity of natural gas compared 

to other fuels for particular applications such as electric power production.20

One of the commonly perceived risks from hydraulic fracturing is the possibility of 

leakage of fracturing fluid through fractures into drinking water. Regulators and 

geophysical experts agree that the likelihood of properly injected fracturing fluid 

reaching drinking water through fractures is remote where there is a large depth 

separation between drinking water sources and the producing zone. In the great 

majority of regions where shale gas is being produced, such separation exists 

and there are few, if any, documented examples of such migration. An 

improperly executed fracturing fluid injection can, of course, lead to surface spills 
SEAB Shale Gas Production Subcommittee – 90-Day Report – For public comment

20

and leakage into surrounding shallow drinking water formations. Similarly, a well 

with poorly cemented casing could potentially leak, regardless of whether the 

well has been hydraulically fractured.

With respect to stopping surface spills and leakage of contaminated water, the 

Subcommittee observes that extra measures are now being taken by some 

operators and regulators to address the public's concern that water be protected. 

The use of mats, catchments and groundwater monitors as well as the 

establishment of buffers around surface water resources help ensure against 

water pollution and should be adopted.

Methane leakage from producing wells into surrounding drinking water wells, 

exploratory wells, production wells, abandoned wells, underground mines, and 

natural migration is a greater source of concern. The presence of methane in 

wells surrounding a shale gas production site is not ipso facto evidence of 

methane leakage from the fractured producing well since methane may be 

present in surrounding shallow methane deposits or the result of past 

conventional drilling activity. 

However, a recent, credible, peer-reviewed study documented the higher 

concentration of methane originating in shale gas deposits (through isotopic 

abundance of C-13 and the presence of trace amounts of higher hydrocarbons) 

into wells surrounding a producing shale production site in northern 

Pennsylvania.21 The Subcommittee recommends several studies be 

commissioned to confirm the validity of this study and the extent of methane 

migration that may take place in this and other regions.

(2) Industry experts believe that methane migration from shale gas production, when 

it occurs, is due to one or another factors: drilling a well in a geological unstable 

location; loss of well integrity as a result of poor well completion (cementing or 

casing) or poor production pressure management. Best practice can reduce the 

risk of this failure mechanism (as discussed in the following section). 

Pressure tests of the casing and state-of-the-art cement bond logs should be 

performed to confirm that the methods being used achieve the desired degree of 
SEAB Shale Gas Production Subcommittee – 90-Day Report – For public comment

21

formation isolation. Similarly, frequent microseismic surveys should be carried 

out to assure operators and service companies that hydraulic fracture growth is 

limited to the gas-producing formations. Regulations and inspections are needed 

to confirm that operators have taken prompt action to repair defective cementing 

(squeeze jobs). 

(3) A producing shale gas well yields flow-back and other produced water. The flowback water is returned fracturing water that occurs in the early life of the well (up 

to a few months) and includes residual fracturing fluid as well as some solid

material from the formation. Produced water is the water displaced from the 

formation and therefore contains substances that are found in the formation, and 

may include brine, gases (e.g. methane, ethane), trace metals, naturally 

occurring radioactive elements (e.g. radium, uranium) and organic compounds. 

Both the amount and the composition of the flow-back and produced water vary 

substantially among shale gas plays – for example, in the Eagle Ford area, there 

is very little returned water after hydraulic fracturing whereas, in the Marcellus, 20 

to 40 percent of the fracturing fluid is produced as flow-back water. In the Barnett, 

there can significant amounts of saline water produced with shale gas if hydraulic 

fractures propagate downward into the Ellenburger formation.

(4) The return water (flow-back + produced) is collected (frequently from more than a 

single well), processed to remove commercially viable gas and stored in tanks or 

an impoundment pond (lined or unlined). For pond storage evaporation will 

change the composition. Full evaporation would ultimately leave precipitated 

solids that must be disposed in a landfill. Measurement of the composition of the 

stored return water should be a routine industry practice. 

(5) There are four possibilities for disposal of return water: reuse as fracturing fluid in 

a new well (several companies, operating in the Marcellus are recycling over 90 

percent of the return water); underground injection into disposal wells (this mode 

of disposal is regulated by the EPA); waste water treatment to produce clean 

water (though at present, most waste water treatment plants are not equipped 

with the capability to treat many of the contaminants associated with shale gas 

waste water); and surface runoff which is forbidden. 
SEAB Shale Gas Production Subcommittee – 90-Day Report – For public comment

22

Currently, the approach to water management by regulators and industry is not on a 

“systems basis” where all aspect of activities involving water use is planned, analyzed,

and managed on an integrated basis. The difference in water use and regulation in 

different shale plays means that there will not be a single water management integrated 

system applicable in all locations. Nevertheless, the Subcommittee believes certain

common principles should guide the development of integrated water management and 

identifies three that are especially important: 

o Adoption of a life cycle approach to water management from the beginning of the 

production process (acquisition) to the end (disposal): all water flows should be 

tracked and reported quantitatively throughout the process. 

o Measurement and public reporting of the composition of water stocks and flow 

throughout the process (for example, flow-back and produced water, in water 

ponds and collection tanks).

o Manifesting of all transfers of water among locations.

Early case studies of integrated water management are desirable so as to provide better 

bases for understanding water use and disposition and opportunities for reduction of

risks related to water use. The Subcommittee supports EPA’s retrospective and 

prospective case studies that will be part of the EPA study of hydraulic fracturing impacts 

on drinking water resources, but these case studies focus on identification of possible 

consequences rather than the definition of an integrated water management system, 

including the measurement needs to support it. The Subcommittee believes that 

development and use of an integrated water management system has the potential for 

greatly reducing the environmental footprint and risk of water use in shale gas 

production and recommends that regulators begin working with industry and other 

stakeholders to develop and implement such systems in their jurisdictions and regionally. 

Additionally, agencies should review field experience and modernize rules and 

enforcement practices – especially regarding well construction/operation, management 

of flow back and produced water, and prevention of blowouts and surface spills – to 

ensure robust protection of drinking and surface waters. Specific best practice matters 

that should receive priority attention from regulators and industry are described below. 
SEAB Shale Gas Production Subcommittee – 90-Day Report – For public comment

23

3. Background water quality measurements. 

At present there are widely different practices for measuring the water quality of wells in 

the vicinity of a shale gas production site. Availability of measurements in advance of 

drilling would provide an objective baseline for determining if the drilling and hydraulic 

fracturing activity introduced any contaminants in surrounding drinking water wells. 

The Subcommittee is aware there is great variation among states with respect to their 

statutory authority to require measurement of water quality of private wells, and that the 

process of adopting practical regulations that would be broadly acceptable to the public 

would be difficult. Nevertheless, the value of these measurements for reassuring 

communities about the impact of drilling on their community water supplies leads the 

Subcommittee to recommend that states and localities adopt systems for measurement 

and reporting of background water quality in advance of shale gas production activity. 

These baseline measurements should be publicly disclosed, while protecting 

landowner’s privacy. 

4. Disclosure of the composition of fracturing fluids. 

There has been considerable debate about requirements for reporting all chemicals 

(both composition and concentrations) used in fracturing fluids. Fracturing fluid refers to 

the slurry prepared from water, sand, and some added chemicals for high pressure 

injection into a formation in order to create fractures that open a pathway for release of 

the oil and gases in the shale. Some states (such as Wyoming, Arkansas and Texas) 

have adopted disclosure regulations for the chemicals that are added to fracturing fluid, 

and the U.S. Department of Interior has recently indicated an interest in requiring 

disclosure for fracturing fluids used on federal lands. 

The DOE has supported the establishment and maintenance of a relatively new website, 

FracFocus.org (operated jointly by the Ground Water Protection Council and the 

Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission) to serve as a voluntary chemical registry 

for individual companies to report all chemicals that would appear on Material Safety 

Data Sheets (MSDS) subject to certain provisions to protect “trade secrets.” While 

FracFocus is off to a good start with voluntary reporting growing rapidly, the restriction to 

MSDS data means that a large universe of chemicals frequently used in hydraulic 
SEAB Shale Gas Production Subcommittee – 90-Day Report – For public comment

24

fracturing treatments goes unreported. MSDS only report chemicals that have been 

deemed to be hazardous in an occupational setting under standards adopted by OSHA 

(the Occupational Safety and Health Administration); MSDA reporting does not include 

other chemicals that might be hazardous if human exposure occurs through 

environmental pathways. Another limitation of FracFocus is that the information is not 

maintained as a database. As a result, the ability to search for data is limited and there 

are no tools for aggregating data.

The Subcommittee believes that the high level of public concern about the nature of 

fracturing chemicals suggests that the benefit of immediate and complete disclosure of 

all chemical components and composition of fracturing fluid completely outweighs the 

restriction on company action, the cost of reporting, and any intellectual property value of 

proprietary chemicals. The Subcommittee believes that public confidence in the safety 

of fracturing would be significantly improved by complete disclosure and that the barrier 

to shield chemicals based on trade secret should be set very high. Therefore the

Subcommittee recommends that regulatory entities immediately develop rules to require 

disclosure of all chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing fluids on both public and private 

lands. Disclosure should include all chemicals, not just those that appear on MSDS. It 

should be reported on a well-by-well basis and posted on a publicly available website 

that includes tools for searching and aggregating data by chemical, well, by company, 

and by geography.

5. Reducing the use of diesel in shale gas development

Replacing diesel with natural gas or electric power for oil field equipment will decrease 

harmful air emissions and improve air quality. Although fuel substitution will likely 

happen over time because of the lower cost of natural gas compared diesel and 

because of likely future emission restrictions, the Subcommittee recommends 

conversion from diesel to natural gas for equipment fuel or to electric power where 

available, as soon as practicable. The process of conversion may be slowed because 

manufacturers of compression ignition or spark ignition engines may not have certified 

the engine operating with natural gas fuel for off-road use as required by EPA air 

emission regulations.22
SEAB Shale Gas Production Subcommittee – 90-Day Report – For public comment

25

Eliminating the use of diesel as an additive to hydraulic fracturing fluid. The

Subcommittee believes there is no technical or economic reason to use diesel as a 

stimulating fluid. Diesel is a refinery product that consists of several components 

possibly including some toxic impurities such as benzene and other aromatics. (EPA is 

currently considering permitting restrictions of the use of diesel fuels in hydraulic 

fracturing under Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Underground Injection Control (UIC) 

Class II.) Diesel is convenient to use in the oil field because it is present for use fuel for 

generators and compressors. 

Diesel has two uses in hydraulic fracturing and stimulation. In modest quantities diesel 

is used to solubilize other fracturing chemical such as guar. Mineral oil (a synthetic 

mixture of C-10 to C-40 hydrocarbons) is as effective at comparable cost. Infrequently, 

diesel is use as a fracturing fluid in water sensitive clay and shale reservoirs. In these 

cases, light crude oil that is free of aromatic impurities picked up in the refining process, 

can be used as a substitute of equal effectiveness and lower cost compared to diesel, as 

a non-aqueous fracturing fluid. 

6. Managing short-term and cumulative impacts on communities, land use, 

wildlife and ecologies. 

Intensive shale gas development can potentially have serious impacts on public health, 

the environment and quality of life – even when individual operators conduct their 

activities in ways that meet and exceed regulatory requirements. The combination of 

impacts from multiple drilling and production operations, support infrastructure 

(pipelines, road networks, etc.) and related activities can overwhelm ecosystems and 

communities. 

The Subcommittee believes that federal, regional, state and local jurisdictions need to 

place greater effort on examining these cumulative impacts in a more holistic manner; 

discrete permitting activity that focuses narrowly on individual activities does not reach to 

these issues. Rather than suggesting a simple prescription that every jurisdiction should 

follow to assure adequate consideration of these impacts, the Subcommittee believes 

that each relevant jurisdiction should develop and implement processes for community 

engagement and for preventing, mitigating and remediating surface impacts and 
SEAB Shale Gas Production Subcommittee – 90-Day Report – For public comment

26

community impacts from production activities. There are a number of threshold 

mechanisms that should be considered: 

• Optimize use of multi-well drilling pads to minimize transport traffic and needs for 

new road construction. 

• Evaluate water use at the scale of affected watersheds. 

• Provide formal notification by regulated entities of anticipated environmental and 

community impacts.

• Declare unique and/or sensitive areas off-limits to drilling and support 

infrastructure as determined through an appropriate science-based process. 

• Undertake science-based characterization of important landscapes, habitats and 

corridors to inform planning, prevention, mitigation and reclamation of surface 

impacts.

• Establish effective field monitoring and enforcement to inform on-going 

assessment of cumulative community and land use impacts.

• Mitigate noise, air and visual pollution.

The process for addressing these issues must afford opportunities for affected 

communities to participate and respect for the rights of mineral rights owners.

Organizing for continuous improvement of “best practice”

In this report, the term “Best Practice” refers to industry techniques or methods that have 

proven over time to accomplish given tasks and objectives in a manner that most 

acceptably balances desired outcomes and avoids undesirable consequences. 

Continuous best practice in an industry refers to the evolution of best practice by 

adopting process improvements as they are identified, thus progressively improving the 

level and narrowing the distribution of performance of firms in the industry. Best practice 

is a particularly helpful management approach in a field that is growing rapidly, where 

technology is changing rapidly, and involves many firms of different size and technical 

capacity. 

Best practice does not necessarily imply a single process or procedure; it allows for a 

range of practice that is believed to be equally effective at achieving desired out comes. 

This flexibility is important because it acknowledges the possibility that different 

operators in different regions will select different solutions.
SEAB Shale Gas Production Subcommittee – 90-Day Report – For public comment

27

The Subcommittee believes the creation of a shale gas industry production organization 

dedicated to continuous improvement of best practice through development of standards, 

diffusion of these standards, and assessing compliance among its members can be an

important mechanism for improving shale gas companies’ commitment to safety and 

environmental protection as it carries out its business. The Subcommittee envisions that 

the industry organization would be governed by a board of directors composed of 

member companies, on a rotating basis, along with external members, for example from 

non-governmental organizations and academic institutions, as determined by the board. 

Strong regulations and robust enforcement resources and practices are a prerequisite to 

protecting health, safety and the environment, but the job is easier where companies are 

motivated and committed to adopting best engineering and environmental practice. 

Companies have economic incentives to adopt best practice, because it improves 

operational efficiency and, if done properly, improves safety and environmental 

protection. 

Achievement of best practice requires management commitment, adoption and 

dissemination of standards that are widely disseminated and periodically updated on the 

basis of field experience and measurements. A trained work force, motivated to adopt 

best practice, is also necessary. Creation of an industry organization dedicated to 

excellence in shale gas operations intended to advance knowledge about best practice 

and improve the interactions among companies, regulators and the public would be a 

major step forward. 

The Subcommittee is aware that shale gas producers and other groups recognize the 

value of a best practice management approach and that industry is considering creating 

a mechanism for encouraging best practice. The design of such a mechanism involves 

many considerations including the differences in the shale production and regulations in 

different basins, making most effective use of mechanisms that are currently in place, 

and respecting the different capabilities of large and smaller operators. The 

Subcommittee will monitor progress on this important matter and continue to make its 

views known about the characteristics that such a mechanism and supporting 

organization should possess to maximize its effectiveness. 
SEAB Shale Gas Production Subcommittee – 90-Day Report – For public comment

28

It should be stressed that any industry best practice mechanism would need to comply 

with anti-trust laws and would not replace any existing state or federal regulatory 

authority.

The Subcommittee has 

identified a number of promising 

best practice opportunities. Five 

examples are given in the callout box. Two examples are 

discussed below to give a sense 

of the opportunities that 

presented by best practice 

focus.

Well integrity: an example. Well integrity is an example of the potential power of best 

practice for shale gas production. Well integrity encompasses the planning, design and 

execution of a well completion (cementing, casing and well head placement). It is 

fundamental to good outcomes in drilling oil and gas wells. 

Methane leakage to water reservoirs is widely believed to be due to poor well completion, 

especially poor casing and cementing. Casing and cementing programs should be 

designed to provide optimal isolation of the gas-producing zone from overlaying 

formations. The number of cemented casings and the depth ranges covered will depend 

on local geologic and hydrologic conditions. However, there need to be multiple 

engineered barriers to prevent communication between hydrocarbons and potable 

aquifers. In addition, the casing program needs to be designed to optimize the potential 

success of cementing operations. Poorly cemented cased wells offer pathways for 

leakage; properly cemented and cased wells do not. 

Well integrity is an ideal example of where a best practice approach, adopted by the 

industry, can stress best practice and collect data to validate continuous improvement. 

The American Petroleum Institute, for example, has focused on well completion in its 

standards activity for shale gas production.23

Priority best practice topics

Air

• Measurement and disclosure of air emissions 

including VOCs, methane, air toxics, and other 

pollutants.

• Reduction of methane emission from all shale gas 

operations

Water

• Integrated water management systems

• Well completion – casing and cementing

• Characterization and disclosure of flow back 

and other produced water
SEAB Shale Gas Production Subcommittee – 90-Day Report – For public comment

29

At present, however, there is a wide range in procedures followed in the field with regard 

to casing placement and cementing for shale gas drilling. There are different practices 

with regard to completion testing and different regulations for monitoring possible gas 

leakage from the annulus at the wellhead. In some jurisdictions, regulators insist that 

gas leakage can be vented; others insist on containment with periodic pressure testing. 

There are no common leakage criteria for intervention in a well that exhibits damage or 

on the nature of the intervention. It is very likely that over time a focus on best practice 

in well completion will result in safer operations and greater environmental protection. 

The best practice will also avoid costly interruptions to normal operations. The 

regulation of shale gas development should also include inspections at safety-critical 

stages of well construction and hydraulic fracturing. 

Limiting water use by controlling vertical fracture growth: – a second example. While 

the vertical growth of hydraulic fractures does not appear to have been a causative 

factor in reported cases where methane from shale gas formations has migrated to the 

near surface, it is in the best interest of operators and the public to limit the vertical 

extent of hydraulic fractures to the gas bearing shale formation being exploited. By 

improving the efficiency of hydraulic fractures, more gas will be produced using less 

water for fracturing – which has economic value to operators and environmental value 

for the public. 

The vertical propagation of hydraulic fractures results from the variation of earth stress 

with depth and the pumping pressure during fracturing. The variation of earth stress with 

depth is difficult to predict, but easy to measure in advance of hydraulic fracturing 

operations. Operators and service companies should assure that through periodic direct 

measurement of earth stresses and microseismic monitoring of hydraulic fracturing 

operations, everything possible is being done to limit the amount of water and additives 

used in hydraulic fracturing operations.

Evolving best practices must be accompanied by metrics that permit tracking of the 

progress in improving shale gas operations performance and environmental impacts. 

The Subcommittee has the impression that the current standard- setting processes do 

not utilize metrics. Without such metrics and the collection of relevant measured data, 
SEAB Shale Gas Production Subcommittee – 90-Day Report – For public comment

30

operators lack the ability to track objectively the progress of the extensive process of 

setting and updating standards. 

Research and development needs

The profitability, rapid expansion, and the growing recognition of the scale of the 

resource mean that oil and gas companies will mount significant R&D efforts to improve 

performance and lower cost of shale gas exploration and production. In general the oil 

and gas industry is a technology-focused and technology-driven industry, and it is safe 

to assume that there will be a steady advance of technology over the coming years. 

In these circumstances the federal government has a limited role in supporting R&D. 

The proper focus should be on sponsoring R&D and analytic studies that address topics 

that benefit the public or the industry but which do not permit individual firms to attain a 

proprietary position. Examples are environmental and safety studies, risk assessments, 

resource assessments, and longer-term R&D (such as research on methane hydrates). 

Across many administrations, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has been 

skeptical of any federal support for oil and gas R&D, and many Presidents’ budget have 

not included any request for R&D for oil and gas. Nonetheless Congress has typically 

put money into the budget for oil & gas R&D. 

The following table summarizes the R&D outlays of the DOE, EPA, and USGS for 

unconventional gas:
SEAB Shale Gas Production Subcommittee – 90-Day Report – For public comment

31

Unconventional Gas R&D Outlays for Various Federal Agencies ($ millions)

FY2008 FY2009 FY2010 FY2011 

FY2012 

request 

DOE Unconventional Gas

 EPAct Section 999 Program Funds

 RPSEA Administered $14 $14 $14 $14 0

 NETL Complementary $9 $9 $9 $4 0

 Annual Appropriated Program Funds

 Environmental $2 $4 $2 0 0

 Unconventional Fossil Energy 0 0 $6 0 0

 Methane Hydrate projects $15 $15 $15 $5 $10

 Total Department of Energy $40 $42 $46 $23 $10

Environmental Protection Agency $0 $0 $1.9 $4.3 $6.1

USGS $4.5 $4.6 $5.9 $7.4 $7.6

Total Federal R&D $44.5 $46.6 $53.8 $34.7 $13.7

Near Term Actions: 

The Subcommittee believes that given the scale and rapid growth of the shale gas 

resource in the nation’s energy mix, the federal government should sponsor some R&D 

for unconventional gas, focusing on areas that have public and industry wide benefit and 

addresses public concern. The Subcommittee, at this point, is only in a position to offer 

some initial recommendations, not funding levels or to assignment of responsibility to 

particular government agencies. The DOE, EPA, the USGS, and DOI Bureau of Land 

Management all have mission responsibility that justify a continuing, tailored, federal R&D 

effort. 

RPSEA is the Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America, a public/private 

research partnership authorized by the 2005 Energy Policy Act at a level of $50 million 

from offshore royalties. Since 2007, the RPSEA program has focused on unconventional 

gas. The Subcommittee strongly supports the RPSEA program at its authorized level.24
SEAB Shale Gas Production Subcommittee – 90-Day Report – For public comment

32

The Subcommittee recommends that the relevant agencies, the Office of Science and 

Technology Policy (OSTP), and OMB discuss and agree on an appropriate mission and 

level of funding for unconventional natural gas R&D. If requested, the Subcommittee, in 

the second phase of its work, could consider this matter in greater detail and make 

recommendations for the Administration’s consideration. 

In addition to the studies mentioned in the body of the report, the Subcommittee 

mentions several additional R&D projects where results could reduce safety risk and 

environmental damage for shale gas operations:

1. Basic research on the relationship of fracturing and micro-seismic signaling.

2. Determination of the chemical interactions between fracturing fluids and different 

shale rocks – both experimental and predictive. 

3. Understanding induced seismicity triggered by hydraulic fracturing and injection 

well disposal.25

4. Development of “green” drilling and fracturing fluids.

5. Development of improved cement evaluation and pressure testing wireline tools 

assuring casing and cementing integrity.

Longer term prospects for technical advance 

The public should expect significant technical advance on shale gas production that will 

substantially improve the efficiency of shale gas production and that will in turn reduce 

environmental impact. The expectation of significant production expansion in the future 

offers a tremendous incentive for companies to undertake R&D to improve efficiency and 

profitability. The history of the oil and gas industry supports such innovation, in 

particular greater extraction of the oil and gas in place and reduction in the unit cost of 

drilling and production. 

The original innovations of directional drilling and formation fracturing plausibly will be 

extended by much more accurate placement of fracturing fluid guided by improved 

interpretation of micro-seismic signals and improved techniques of reservoir testing. As 
SEAB Shale Gas Production Subcommittee – 90-Day Report – For public comment

33

an example, oil services firms are already offering services that provide near-real-time 

monitoring to avoid excessive vertical fracturing growth, thus affording better control of 

fracturing fluid placement. Members of the Subcommittee estimate that an improvement 

in in efficiency of water use could be between a factor of two and four. There will be 

countless other innovations as well. 

There has already been a major technical innovation – the switch from single well to 

pad-based drilling and production of multiple wells (up to twenty wells per pad have been 

drilled). The multi-well pad system allows for enhanced efficiency because of repeating 

operations at the same site and a much smaller footprint (e.g. concentrated gas 

gathering systems; many fewer truck trips associated with drilling and completion, 

especially related to equipment transport; decreased needs for road and pipeline 

constructions, etc.). It is worth noting that these efficiencies may require pooling 

acreage into large blocks.

Conclusion

The public deserves assurance that the full economic, environmental and energy 

security benefits of shale gas development will be realized without sacrificing public 

health, environmental protection and safety. Nonetheless, accidents and incidents have 

occurred with shale gas development, and uncertainties about impacts need to be 

quantified and clarified. Therefore the Subcommittee has highlighted important steps for 

more thorough information, implementation of best practices that make use of technical 

innovation and field experience, regulatory enhancement, and focused R&D, to ensure 

that shale operations proceed in the safest way possible, with enhanced efficiency and 

minimized adverse impact. If implemented these measures will give the public reason to 

believe that the nation’s considerable shale gas resources are being developed in a way 

that is most beneficial to the nation. 
SEAB Shale Gas Production Subcommittee – 90-Day Report – For public comment

34

ANNEX A – CHARGE TO THE SUBCOMMITTEE

From: Secretary Chu

To: William J. Perry, Chairman, Secretary’s Energy Advisory Board (SEAB)

On March 30, 2011, President Obama announced a plan for U.S. energy security, in 

which he instructed me to work with other agencies, the natural gas industry, states, and 

environmental experts to improve the safety of shale gas development. The President 

also issued the Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future (“Energy Blueprint”), which 

included the following charge: 

“Setting the Bar for Safety and Responsibility: To provide recommendations 

from a range of independent experts, the Secretary of Energy, in consultation 

with the EPA Administrator and Secretary of Interior, should task the Secretary of 

Energy Advisory Board (SEAB) with establishing a subcommittee to examine 

fracking issues. The subcommittee will be supported by DOE, EPA and DOI, and 

its membership will extend beyond SEAB members to include leaders from 

industry, the environmental community, and states. The subcommittee will work 

to identify, within 90 days, any immediate steps that can be taken to improve the 

safety and environmental performance of fracking and to develop, within six 

months, consensus recommended advice to the agencies on practices for shale 

extraction to ensure the protection of public health and the environment.” Energy 

Blueprint (page 13).

The President has charged us with a complex and urgent responsibility. I have asked 

SEAB and the Natural Gas Subcommittee, specifically, to begin work on this assignment 

immediately and to give it the highest priority. 

This memorandum defines the task before the Subcommittee and the process to be 

used.

Membership: 

In January of 2011, the SEAB created a Natural Gas Subcommittee to evaluate what 

role natural gas might play in the clean energy economy of the future. Members of the 

Subcommittee include John Deutch (chair), Susan Tierney, and Dan Yergin. Following 

consultation with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of the 

Interior, I have appointed the following additional members to the Subcommittee: 

Stephen Holditch, Fred Krupp, Kathleen McGinty, and Mark Zoback. 

The varied backgrounds of these members satisfies the President’s charge to include 

individuals with industry, environmental community, and state expertise. To facilitate an 

expeditious start, the Subcommittee will consist of this small group, but additional 

members may be added as appropriate. 
SEAB Shale Gas Production Subcommittee – 90-Day Report – For public comment

35

Consultation with other Agencies: 

The President has instructed DOE to work in consultation with EPA and DOI, and has 

instructed all three agencies to provide support and expertise to the Subcommittee. 

Both agencies have independent regulatory authority over certain aspects of natural gas 

production, and considerable expertise that can inform the Subcommittee’s work.

• The Secretary and Department staff will manage an interagency working group to 

be available to consult and provide information upon request of the 

Subcommittee. 

• The Subcommittee will ensure that opportunities are available for EPA and DOI 

to present information to the Subcommittee. 

• The Subcommittee should identify and request any resources or expertise that 

lies within the agencies that is needed to support its work. 

• The Subcommittee’s work should at all times remain independent and based on 

sound science and other expertise held from members of the Subcommittee.

• The Subcommittee’s deliberations will involve only the members of the 

Subcommittee.

• The Subcommittee will present its final report/recommendations to the full SEAB 

Committee. 

Public input: 

In arriving at its recommendations, the Subcommittee will seek timely expert and other 

advice from industry, state and federal regulators, environmental groups, and other 

stakeholders. 

• To assist the Subcommittee, DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy will create a website 

to describe the initiative and to solicit public input on the subject. 

• The Subcommittee will meet with representatives from state and federal 

regulatory agencies to receive expert information on subjects as the 

Subcommittee deems necessary. 

• The Subcommittee or the DOE (in conjunction with the other agencies) may hold 

one or more public meetings when appropriate to gather input on the subject. 

Scope of work of the Subcommittee: 

The Subcommittee will provide the SEAB with recommendations as to actions that can 

be taken to improve the safety and environmental performance of shale gas extraction 

processes, and other steps to ensure protection of public health and safety, on topics 

such as: 

 well design, siting, construction and completion; 

 controls for field scale development; 

 operational approaches related to drilling and hydraulic fracturing; 

 risk management approaches; 

 well sealing and closure; 

 surface operations; 

 waste water reuse and disposal, water quality impacts, and storm water runoff; 
SEAB Shale Gas Production Subcommittee – 90-Day Report – For public comment

36

 protocols for transparent public disclosure of hydraulic fracturing chemicals and 

other information of interest to local communities; 

 optimum environmentally sound composition of hydraulic fracturing chemicals, 

reduced water consumption, reduced waste generation, and lower greenhouse 

gas emissions; 

 emergency management and response systems; 

 metrics for performance assessment; and 

 mechanisms to assess performance relating to safety, public health and the 

environment.

The Subcommittee should identify, at a high level, the best practices and additional 

steps that could enhance companies’ safety and environmental performance with 

respect to a variety of aspects of natural gas extraction. Such steps may include, but not 

be limited to principles to assure best practices by the industry, including companies’ 

adherence to these best practices. Additionally, the Subcommittee may identify highpriority research and technological issues to support prudent shale gas development.

Delivery of Recommendations and Advice: 

• Within 90 days of its first meeting, the Subcommittee will report to SEAB on the 

“immediate steps that can be taken to improve the safety and environmental 

performance of fracking.”

• Within 180 days of its first meeting, the Subcommittee will report to SEAB 

“consensus recommended advice to the agencies on practices for shale 

extraction to ensure the protection of public health and the environment.”

• At each stage, the Subcommittee will report its findings to the full Committee and 

the SEAB will review the findings. 

• The Secretary will consult with the Administrator of EPA and the Secretary of the 

Interior, regarding the recommendations from SEAB. 

Other: 

• The Department will provide staff support to the Subcommittee for the purposes 

of meeting the requirements of the Subcommittee charge. The Department will 

also engage the services of other agency Federal employees or contractors to 

provide staff services to the Subcommittee, as it may request. 

• DOE has identified $700k from the Office of Fossil Energy to fund this effort, 

which will support relevant studies or assessments, report writing, and other 

costs related to the Subcommittee’s process.

• The Subcommittee will avoid activity that creates or gives the impression of 

giving undue influence or financial advantage or disadvantage for particular 

companies involved in shale gas exploration and development. 

• The President’s request specifically recognizes the unique technical expertise 

and scientific role of the Department and the SEAB. As an agency not engaged 

in regulating this activity, DOE is expected to provide a sound, highly credible 

evaluation of the best practices and best ideas for employing these practices 

safely that can be made available to companies and relevant regulators for 

appropriate action. Our task does not include making decisions about regulatory 

policy.
37

ANNEX B – MEMBERS OF THE SUBCOMMITTEE

John Deutch, Institute Professor at MIT (Chair) - John Deutch served as Director of 

Energy Research, Acting Assistant Secretary for Energy Technology and Under 

Secretary of Energy for the U.S. Department of Energy in the Carter Administration and 

Undersecretary of Acquisition & Technology, Deputy Secretary of Defense and Director 

of Central Intelligence during the first Clinton Administration. Dr. Deutch also currently 

serves on the Board of Directors of Raytheon and Cheniere Energy and is a past 

director of Citigroup, Cummins Engine Company and Schlumberger. A chemist who has 

published more than 140 technical papers in physical chemistry, he has been a member 

of the MIT faculty since 1970, and has served as Chairman of the Department of 

Chemistry, Dean of Science and Provost. He is a member of the Secretary of Energy 

Advisory Board.

Stephen Holditch, Head of the Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M 

University and has been on the faculty since 1976 - Stephen Holditch, who is a member 

of the National Academy of Engineering, serves on the Boards of Directors of Triangle 

Petroleum Corporation and Matador Resources Corporation. In 1977, Dr. Holditch 

founded S.A. Holditch & Associates, a petroleum engineering consulting firm that

specialized in the analysis of unconventional gas reservoirs. Dr. Holditch was the 2002 

President of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. He was the Editor of an SPE 

Monograph on hydraulic fracturing treatments, and he has taught short courses for 30 

years on the design of hydraulic fracturing treatments and the analyses of 

unconventional gas reservoirs. Dr. Holditch worked for Shell Oil Company prior to 

joining the faculty at Texas A&M University.

Fred Krupp, President, Environmental Defense Fund - Fred Krupp has overseen the 

growth of EDF into a recognized worldwide leader in the environmental movement. 

Krupp is widely acknowledged as the foremost champion of harnessing market forces for 

environmental ends. He also helped launch a corporate coalition, the U.S. Climate 

Action Partnership, whose Fortune 500 members - Alcoa, GE, DuPont and dozens more 

- have called for strict limits on global warming pollution. Mr. Krupp is coauthor, with 

Miriam Horn, of New York Times Best Seller, Earth: The Sequel. Educated at Yale and 

the University of Michigan Law School, Krupp was among 16 people named as 

America's Best Leaders by U.S. News and World Report in 2007.

Kathleen McGinty, Kathleen McGinty is a respected environmental leader, having 

served as President Clinton's Chair of the White House Council on Environmental 

Quality and Legislative Assistant and Environment Advisor to then-Senator Al Gore. 
38

More recently, she served as Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of 

Environmental Protection. Ms. McGinty also has a strong background in energy. She is 

Senior Vice President of Weston Solutions where she leads the company's clean energy 

development business. She also is an Operating Partner at Element Partners, an 

investor in efficiency and renewables. Previously, Ms. McGinty was Chair of the 

Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority, and currently she is a Director at NRG 

Energy and Iberdrola USA.

Susan Tierney, Managing Principal, Analysis Group - Susan Tierney is a consultant on 

energy and environmental issues to public agencies, energy companies, environmental 

organizations, energy consumers, and tribes. She chairs the Board of the Energy 

Foundation, and serves on the Boards of Directors of the World Resources Institute, the 

Clean Air Task Force, among others. She recently, co-chaired the National Commission 

on Energy Policy, and chairs the Policy Subgroup of the National Petroleum Council's 

study of North American natural gas and oil resources. Dr. Tierney served as Assistant 

Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Department of Energy during the Clinton Administration. 

In Massachusetts, she served as Secretary of Environmental Affairs, Chair of the Board 

of the Massachusetts Water Resources Agency, Commissioner of the Massachusetts 

Department of Public Utilities and executive director of the Massachusetts Energy 

Facilities Siting Council.

Daniel Yergin, Chairman, IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates - Daniel Yergin 

is the co-founder and chairman of IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates. He is a 

member of the U.S. Secretary of Energy Advisory Board, a board member of the Board 

of the United States Energy Association and a member of the U.S. National Petroleum 

Council. He was vice chair of the 2007 National Petroleum Council study, Hard Truths 

and is vice chair of the new National Petroleum Council study of North American natural 

gas and oil resources. He chaired the U.S. Department of Energy's Task Force on 

Strategic Energy Research and Development. Dr. Yergin currently chairs the Energy 

Security Roundtable at the Brookings Institution, where he is a trustee, and is member of 

the advisory board of the MIT Energy Initiative. Dr. Yergin is also CNBC's Global Energy 

Expert. He is the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The Prize: The Epic Quest 

for Oil, Money and Power. His new book – The Quest: Energy, Security, and the 

Remaking of the Modern World – will be published in September 2011.. 

Mark Zoback, Professor of Geophysics, Stanford University - Mark Zoback is the 

Benjamin M. Page Professor of Geophysics at Stanford University. He is the author of a 

textbook, Reservoir Geomechanics, and author or co-author of over 300 technical 

research papers. He was co-principal investigator of the San Andreas Fault Observatory 

at Depth project (SAFOD) and has been serving on a National Academy of Engineering 

committee investigating the Deepwater Horizon accident. He was the chairman and cofounder of GeoMechanics International and serves as a senior adviser to Baker Hughes, 
39

Inc. Prior to joining Stanford University, he served as chief of the Tectonophysics Branch 

of the U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program. 
ENDNOTES

 1 http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/blueprint_secure_energy_future.pdf

2 The James Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University has recently released a report 

on Shale Gas and U.S. National Security, Available at: http://bakerinstitute.org/publications/EFpub-DOEShaleGas-07192011.pdf. 

3 As a shale of total dry gas production in the “lower ’48”, shale gas was 6 percent in 2006, 8 

percent in 2007, at which time its share began to grow rapidly – reaching 12 percent in 2008, 16 

percent in 2009, and 24 percent in 2010. In June 2011, it reached 29 percent. Source: Energy 

Information Adminstration and Lippman Consulting.

4

 Timothy Considine, Robert W. Watson, and Nicholas B. Considine, “The Economy 

Opportunities of Shale Energy Development,” Manhattan Institute, May 2011, Table 2, page 6.

5 Essentially all fracturing currently uses water at the working fluid. The possibility exists of using 

other fluids, such as nitrogen, carbon dioxide or foams as the working fluid.

6 The Department of Energy has a shale gas technology primer available on the web at: 

http://www.netl.doe.gov/technologies/oil-gas/publications/brochures/Shale_Gas_March_2011.pdf

7 See the Bureau of Land Management Gold Book for a summary description of the DOI’s 

approach: 

http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/wo/MINERALS__REALTY__AND_RESOURCE_PR

OTECTION_/energy/oil_and_gas.Par.18714.File.dat/OILgas.pdf

8 http://www.shalegas.energy.gov/

9 The 2011 MIT Study on the Future of Natural Gas, gives an estimate of about 50 widely 

reported incidents between 2005 and 2009 involving groundwater contamination, surface spills, 

off-site disposal issues, water issues, air quality and blow outs, Table 2.3 and Appendix 2E. 

http://web.mit.edu/mitei/research/studies/naturalgas.html

10 The Ground Water Protection Council and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission 

are considering a project to create a National Oil and Gas Data Portal with similar a objective, but 

broader scope to encompass all oil and gas activities. 

11 Information about STRONGER can be found at: http://www.strongerinc.org/

12 The RBMS project is supported by the DOE Office of Fossil Energy, DOE grant #DEFE0000880 at a cost of $1.029 million. The project is described at: 

http://www.netl.doe.gov/technologies/oilgas/publications/ENVreports/FE0000880_GWPC_Kickoff.pdf

13 See, for example: John Corra, “Emissions from Hydrofracking Operations and General 

Oversight Information for Wyoming,” presented to the U.S. Department of Energy Natural Gas 

Subcommittee of the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board, July 13, 2011; Al Armendariz, 

“Emissions from Natural Gas Production in the Barnett Shale Area and Opportunities for CostEffective Improvements,” Southern Methodist University, January 2009; Colorado Air Quality 

Control Commission, “Denver Metro Area & North Front Range Ozone Action Plan,” December 

12, 2008; Utah Department of Environmental Quality, “2005 Uintah Basin Oil and Gas Emissions 

Inventory,” 2005.

14 IPCC 2007 –The Physical Science Basis, Section 2.10.2). 

15 Robert W. Howarth, Renee Santoro, and Anthony Ingraffea, Methane and the greenhouse-gas 

footprint of natural gas from shale formations, Climate Change, The online version of this article

(doi:10.1007/s10584-011-0061-5) contains supplementary material.
SEAB Shale Gas Production Subcommittee – 90-Day Report

41

 16 Timothy J. Skone, Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Analysis of Natural Gas Extraction & Delivery in 

the United States, DOE, NETL, May 2011, available at: http://www.netl.doe.gov/energyanalyses/pubs/NG_LC_GHG_PRES_12MAY11.pdf

17 Paulina Jaramillo, W. Michael Griffin, and H. Scott Mathews, Comparative Life-Cycle Air 

Emissions of Coal, Domestic Natural Gas, LNG, and SNG for Electricity Generation, 

Environmental Science & Technology, 41, 6290-6296 (2007).

18 The EPA draft hydraulic fracturing study plan is available along with other information about 

EPA hydraulic fracturing activity at: 

http://water.epa.gov/type/groundwater/uic/class2/hydraulicfracturing/index.cfm

19 See, for example, “South Texas worries over gas industry’s water use during drought,” Platts, 

July 5, 2011, found at: 

http://www.platts.com/RSSFeedDetailedNews/RSSFeed/NaturalGas/3555776; “Railroad 

Commission, Halliburton officials say amount of water used for fracking is problematic,” Abeline 

Reporter News, July 15, 2011, found at: http://www.reporternews.com/news/2011/jul/15/railroadcommission-halliburton-officials-say-of/?print=1; “Water Use in the Barnett Shale,” Texas Railroad 

Commission Website, updated January 24, 2011, found at: 

http://www.rrc.state.tx.us/barnettshale/wateruse_barnettshale.php.

20 See, for example, Energy Demands on Water Resources, DOE Report to Congress, Dec 2006, 

http://www.sandia.gov/energy-water/docs/121-RptToCongress-EWwEIAcomments-FINAL.pdf

21 Stephen G. Osborna, Avner Vengoshb, Nathaniel R. Warnerb, and Robert B. Jackson,

Methane contamination of drinking water accompanying gas-well drilling and hydraulic fracturing, 

Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 108, 8172-8176, (2011).

22 See EPA Certification Guidance for Engines Regulated Under: 40 CFR Part 86 (On-Highway 

Heavy-Duty Engines) and 40 CFR Part 89 (Nonroad CI Engines); available at: 

http://www.epa.gov/oms/regs/nonroad/equip-hd/420b98002.pdf

23 API standards documents addressing hydraulic fracturing are: API HF1, Hydraulic Fracturing 

Operations-Well Construction and Integrity Guidelines, First Edition/October 2009, API HF2, 

Water Management Associated with Hydraulic Fracturing, First Edition/June 2010, API HF3, 

Practices for Mitigating Surface Impacts Associated with Hydraulic Fracturing, First 

Edition/January 2011, available at: 

http://www.api.org/policy/exploration/hydraulicfracturing/index.cfm

24 Professor Steven Holditch, one of the Subcommittee members, is chair of the RPSEA 

governing committee.

25 Extremely small microearthquakes are triggered as an integral part of shale gas development. 

While essentially all of these earthquakes are so small as to pose no hazard to the public or 

facilities (they release energy roughly equivalent to a gallon of milk falling of a kitchen counter),

earthquakes of larger (but still small) magnitude have been triggered during hydraulic fracturing 

operations and by the injection of flow-back water after hydraulic fracturing. It is important to 

develop a hazard assessment and remediation protocol for triggered earthquakes to allow 

operators and regulators to know what steps need to be taken to assess risk and modify, as 

required, planned field operations.