Scientific Basis for Gas-Well Setbacks

It appears that little or no scientific knowledge has been used anywhere in the country in designating setback distances for oil and gas drilling. Statutory distances are, at best, guesswork. I define scientific knowledge as articles published peer-reviewed journals and have been able to locate only two articles that shed light on the matter:

• S. G. Osborn, et al., “Methane Contamination of Drinking Water Accompanying Gas-Well Drilling and Hydraulic Fracturing” PNAS, 108 (2011) p. 8172

• L. M. McKenzie, et al., “Human Health Risk Assessment of Air Emissions from Development of Unconventional Natural Gas Resources” Sci. Total Envir., 424 (2012) p. 79

Osborne, et al. measured methane contamination of drinking-water wells near drilling operations in northern Pennsylvania. They found enhanced concentrations within 1000 feet of the drilling sites.

McKenzie, et al. measured air pollution near gas wells in Colorado. They concluded that the health risks were significantly raised within one-half mile of the wells.

While no definitive conclusions can be made on such a small body of evidence, the available results suggest setbacks of 1000 feet from water supplies and one-half mile from populated areas. However,large setbacks severely limit the number of wells drilled. Even in sparsely populated areas of eastern Ohio a half-mile setback might preclude drilling altogether.

I want to thank the following for responding to my query for sources: Julie Boyle, Elisabeth Radow, Stan Scobie, Bette Tatham, Louise Usechak, and Roberta Winters.