Infrastructure

KEY POINTS

Shortfalls in the guideline

·         The DGH in its guideline proposes five new reference points relating to water issues in the fracking process that a project proponent must explain while applying for the environmental clearance.

·         However, these five reference points are not succinct to resolve the water-specific issues posed by the fracking activities.

·         Shale rocks are usually adjacent to rocks containing aquifers.

·         While fracking, the shale fluid could possibly penetrate aquifers leading to methane poisoning of groundwater.

·         Acknowledging this complexity, it states that a project proponent must design and construct wells with proper barriers to isolate and protect groundwater.

·         But it misses out on broadly describing the nature or properties of a barrier that can be considered ‘proper’ to isolate and protect the groundwater.

·         The flowback water is usually methane-contaminated and poses different recycling and leakage issues than usual wastewater.

·         The guideline neither proposes any substantive treatment method nor recognises the increase in flowback water during repeated extraction of shale gas from a well over a period of time.

·         However, the guideline also falters and states that these challenges will be dealt while granting environmental clearances as per the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) process.

·         The EIA process, however, does not differentiate between conventional and unconventional hydrocarbons.

·         Implementation of the fracking processes without a consultative thought through process, especially on ‘water usage policy’, may result in larger issues including water stress, contamination of groundwater, and related health hazards.

Way forward

·         As a first step, a sector-specific EIA manual on exploration and production of unconventional hydrocarbon resources may be a good idea.

Please review

Please review

Please review