Berkeley Lab and the California Council on Science and Technology (CCST) publicly released (on July 9) the final Volumes II and III of a peer-reviewed independent scientific assessment that discusses how hydraulic fracturing and acid well stimulation could affect water, atmosphere, seismic activity, wildlife and vegetation, and human health in California. The Berkeley Lab science team, comprised of Earth and Environmental Sciences Area and Energy Technologies Area researchers, conducted the study based on publicly available data, original analyses, and a review of the relevant literature. The comprehensive report describes on 2,300 pages the current and potential future practices of well stimulation in California, discusses environmental impacts, and identifies knowledge gaps and alternative practices that could avoid or mitigate these possible impacts. State agencies and the state legislature have already started developing an implementation plan that would adopt relevant conclusions and recommendations made in the study.
“The on-schedule release of the report would not have been possible without the Herculean effort of a number of highly qualified Berkeley Lab scientists,”
“The on-schedule release of the report would not have been possible without the Herculean effort of a number of highly qualified Berkeley Lab scientists,” says Jens Birkholzer, Division Deputy of Berkeley Lab’s Earth Sciences Division and Principal investigator of this assessment.
In addition to Birkholzer, Berkeley Lab scientists authoring chapters in the three-volume report are Corinne Bachmann, Mary Kay Camarillo, Pat Dobson, Jeremy Domen, Bill Foxall, Jim Houseworth, Preston Jordan, Nate Lindsay, Matt Reagan, Whitney Sandelin, Will Stringfellow, Craig Ulrich, and Charu Varadharajan from EESA, as well as Ling Jin, Kenneth Kloc, Randy Maddalena, Tom McKone, and Dev Millstein from the Energy Technologies Area. Volume I was publicly released in January (2015).
Read more about the complete report from the CCST Well Stimulation Project website.
Contributing author, Jens Birkholzer
Press and editorials
Lab Contributes to Assessment of Hydraulic Fracturing in California – Today at Berkeley Lab (July 10)
Water and wildlife may be at risk from fracking’s toxic chemicals, panel finds (LA Times)
Most of state’s fracking waste left in unlined pits, study finds (SF GATE)
Study: California using fracking in up to half of new wells (The Sacramento Bee)
Fracking Study Urges Greater Oversight To Determine Health, Environmental Risks (CBS Local News: SF Bay Area)
Can California compromise on hydraulic fracturing? (Fierce Energy)
State commission releases report on hydraulic fracturing calling for reforms in water storage (The Daily Californian)
Report Fuels Fracking Ban Push in California (inside climate news)
Study: Science lacking on safety of fracking boom (KTVU.com Fox 2)
Editorial What we don’t know about fracking could hurt us (Los Angeles Times)
Editorials As new study shows, we don’t know how dangerous fracking might be (San Francisco Chronicle)
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ESD Instrumental in Well Stimulation – ESD News and Events (January 14)