Over 350 million years ago a sedimentary rock formation was deposited under the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern United States. Called the Marcellus Shale, it contains “significant quantities of natural gas.” The deposited organic material was heated and compressed over time in the depths of the Earth, creating hydrocarbons like natural gas occurring in pore spaces in the rock. In the Marcellus Shale there could be gas pressures of 26.5 standard cubic feet of gas per cubic foot of rock and an estimate of 363 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas that can easily cover the 23 TCF of natural gas used in the United States per year. Natural gas is being explored as it is a cheaper, greener fuel source than oil and directional drilling that produces hydraulic fractures in the shale at a 90 degree angle from the vertical. The drilling, though, requires a large water supply and problems with avoiding surface environmental pollution and incorrect fluid disposal. Three million gallons of water would be needed each treatment and nearly all of that water needs to be recovered for the gas to flow out of the shale. Water disposal technology has not kept pace allowing for adequate development of drilling for the Marcellus Shale gas.

1-The strongest argument against gas drilling is the correct water disposal of the water recovered from the drilling as it could be contaminated and affect local water supplies.
2-I think the credibility of the sources are good, but a couple sources seem to be blogs, so I would question their facts and double check them for good measure.
3-The way figure 7 can be seen as misleading is if one takes the gel as the finished product of drilling for the gas in the Marcellus Shale. Also, the bare hands of the scientist might make people believe the gel is safe for the environment, and it is not.

A) There were several estimates for how much natural gas can be extracted from the Marcellus Shale, and if the lower estimates are correct, what would be the expense of drilling and the profit from selling for the energy companies?
B) Could the water treatment plants be designed with a new filter system that binds the salts in the fluid so that they can be properly removed from the water?
C) Is any new technology being developed to decrease the amount of equipment needed at shale stimulations to help lower the impact on the surrounding environment?

Vocabulary-
Proppant-Sized particles mixed with fracturing fluid to hold fractures open after a hydraulic fracturing treatment.