Potential ecological risks of hydraulic fracturing

Hydraulic fracturing is widely used in oil and shale gas production and involves some serious ecological risks. This article reviews some present-day scientific data on ecological consequences of hydraulic fracturing and their abatement methods. It is found that the main risks are pollution of ground and surface water with chemical reagents and methane, induced seismicity, air emission of greenhouse gases and toxic substances, as well as disturbance of ecosystems. The article describes some documented cases of methane migration from wells into nearby aquifers bearing drinkable water, pollution of rivers with waste water of hydraulic fracturing, accumulation of radionuclides at waste storages and earthquakes provoked by fluid  injection. The scope of the discussion embraces the best practices and technologies of minimization of disamenities: maintenance of integrity of wells, treatment and recycling of waste water, monitoring of seismic activity and a ‘traffic lights’ system to shut down operations in case of shocks, the use of less toxic reagents and adherence to strict ecological standards. It is concluded that proper control and introduction of the listed measures can enable essential reduction of ecological risks of hydraulic fracturing and ensure sustainable recovery of hydrocarbon resources. 

Maslov A. M., Orlov A. S. Potential ecological risks of hydraulic fracturing. MIAB. Mining Inf. Anal. Bull. 2026;(1):59-70. [In Russ]. DOI: 10.25018/0236_1493_2026_1_0_59.

A.M. Maslov¹, Graduate Student, e-mail: maslov99-99@yandex.ru, ORCID ID: 0009-0003-0323-4072,
A.S. Orlov¹, Graduate Student, e-mail: alorlov13@gmail.com, ORCID ID: 0009-0008-4037-4249,
¹ NUST MISIS, 119049, Moscow, Russia.

A.S. Orlov, e-mail: alorlov13@gmail.com.

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