Hydraulic fracturing, properly managed and regulated, can be conducted in future without threatening groundwater or creating risks of serious earthquakes, according to a study by scientists.

“Hydraulic fracturing can be managed effectively in future as long as operational best practices are implemented and robustly enforced through regulation.” One scientists said.

The study deemed “very low” the risk that induced fractures would propagate from shales deeper than “many hundreds of meters” to overlying aquifers. More likely causes of contamination, it said, are faulty wells and spills associated with surface operations. “Neither cause is unique to shale gas,” it said. “Both are common to all oil and gas wells Hydraulic fracturing and extractive industries.”

The new study said seismic events caused by Hydraulic fracturing are likely to be weaker than those associated with coal mining, which are weaker than natural seismicity.

The study made a number of recommendations for Hydraulic fracturing action, Recommendations directly addressing or involving operators include:

• Site-specific monitoring of methane and other contaminants in groundwater before, during, and after shale gas Hydraulic fracturing.

• Development of arrangements for monitoring abandoned wells.

• Well-integrity tests, such as pressure tests and cement bond logs.

• Monitoring of seismicity before, during, and after hydraulic fracturing.

• Sharing of data with government officials to establish a national database of shale stress and fault properties to assist with identification of well locations.

• Monitoring of potential leakage of methane or other emissions to the atmosphere before, during, and after shale gas Hydraulic fracturing.

• Implementation of methods for minimizing water use.

• Recycling and reuse of wastewater where possible.

• Planning “from the outset” for treating and disposing of wastes.

• Environmental risk assessments.

• Goal-based risk assessment to reduce risk to “as low as reasonably practicable.”

• Mechanisms to allow reporting of well failures and other accidents between operators.