The Importance of Reclamation and Remediation in the Oil and Gas Industry
While the environment impacts of hydraulic fracking were never considered a priority in the past, it is now front and center in the discussions on shale and tight oil mining. These days, companies are looking into new fracking technologies that limit the damage to the environment, as well as into processes that will reverse possible damages; environmental managers are hired and companies that do reclamation and remediation are also consulted. Today, executives running mining companies think of ways to do things faster and smarter with little to no damage to the environment.
There are of course questions regarding the extent of environmental damage brought about by traditional fracking. What are the damages and the risks of traditional fracking? Do the benefits outweigh the risks? Are there methods and processes that can eliminate or reduce the damage or risks? As in most industries, there are different sides with different views on the matter.
In Canada, the issue of creating a comprehensive policy on fracking that benefits the shale industry without damaging the environment is being delayed by the lack of extensive, definitive scientific data on the environmental impact of traditional fracking to underground water. Those opposed to hydraulic fracking argue that it causes water contamination. Some say carcinogenic chemicals reach underground water. There are also claims of the method causing earthquakes.
While there is lack of hard data on the effects of fracking to water resources, there is one solution that executives in the gas and oil industry are focusing on: reclamation.
The reclamation and remediation of land ensure that certifications are provided that damage to fracking sites never occurred or that contamination, if it does happen, is properly dealt with. Reclamation requires its own sets or skills and expertise that companies involved in fracking often do not possess. There are, however, companies that specialize in the field.
Of course all talk about the environment in the boardroom is not always due to concern for the environment. In most cases, it’s the clean-up cost that’s making the executives consider reclamation and remediation aside from water-free fracking. After all, if you own the contamination, you have the legal and moral obligation to clean it up.
Terry Smeader
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Tags: Fracking
