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6TuesdayMay62014IndustryOilGasByMEAGANWOHLBERGAreportbyapaneloftopCanadianscientistsiswarn-ingregulatorstoexercisecau-tioninadvancingthealreadyboomingindustrialpracticeofhydraulicfracturingorfrackingduetoasuiteofpotentialaccompanyingenvironmentalandhumanhealthimpactsthatarecur-rentlynotwellunderstood.The260-pagereportcom-missionedbythefederalgov-ernmentandreleasedlastThursdayconcludesthatnotenoughisknownabouttheimpactsoffracking-anunconventionalshaleoilandgasextractionmethod-toconsideritsafeandthatpro-vincialregulationsforthepracticearenotbasedonstrongscienceandremainuntested.EnvironmentCanadaaskedtheCouncilofAcad-emiesin2011toconductanassessmentofthestateofknowledgeonpoten-tialenvironmentalimpactsfromfrackingoutsidetherealmsofsafetyoreconomicbenets.ScientistsurgecautiononfrackinguntilmoreknownDespitetheexistenceoftensofthousandsofwellsacrossNorthAmericathemultidisciplinarypanelfoundthatultimatelymoretargetedresearchandmonitoringisrequiredtogatherdataanddraftef-fectiveregulationsasex-istingdataaboutimpactsisneithersufficientnorconclusive.Societysunderstand-ingofthepotentialen-vironmentalimpactshasnotkeptpacewithdevel-opmentresultingingapsinscientificknowledgeabouttheseimpactsthereportsaid.Inmostinstancesshalegasdevelopmenthaspro-ceededwithoutthecollec-tionofsufcientenviron-mentalbaselinedata.Thismakesitdifculttoidentifyandcharacterizeimpactsortodismissimpactsthatareinappropriatelyassociatedwithdevelopment.Thoughmuchisnotknownthescientistsdidwarnthatenoughevidenceexiststoraiseconcernsaboutimpactsthatmightnotbefullyunderstoodforyears.Pastmonitoringindi-catesthatgasleakageintoaquifersandtheatmosphereisfrequentenoughtoraiseconcern.Neverthelesspos-sibleenvironmentalandhealtheffectsofshalegasdevelopmentmaytakede-cadestobecomeapparentunderliningtheneedforlong-termmonitoring.Thatworkonpropermonitoringmanagementandoversightwillhavetobedonecollaborativelybygovernmentacademicsindustryandthepublictobeeffectivethepanelconcluded.WaterofgreatestconcernThescientistsfoundthatimpactsonwaterraisethegreatestenvironmen-talconcernwhenitcomestoshalegasdevelopment.Threatstogroundwa-terincludegasleakagefromwellseitherinuseorabandonedwhichcandependonahostoffac-torsnotcurrentlyknownorleakageofwastewatercontainingaplethoraoftoxicchemicals.Thepotentialimpactsofleakingwellsarenotbeingsystematicallymonitoredandpredictionsremainun-reliablethereportstates.Overthelongtermgasorfluidleakageintoground-watercouldresultinpo-tentiallysubstantialcu-mulativeimpactsonwaterquality.Beyondgroundwaterthepanelraisedtheamountofwaterrequiredforshalegasdevelopmentasgroundsforconcerninsomeregionsnotonlybasedonvolumebuttiming.Dependingonlocationseasonandpre-existingusestheadditionalde-mandrelatedtohydraulicfracturingmaystressavail-ablewaterresourcesthepanelwrote.Apartfromwaterthepanelalsoassessedavail-ableinformationongreen-housegasemissionswhichlikewaterconcernswellintegrityalongwithlandimpactsseismiceventsandhumanhealthallofwhichitsaidrequiremoreresearch.PhotoJoshuaDoubekAnaturalgasrigfracksforshalegasintheboomingBak-kenplayofNorthDakota.