The war over natural gas extraction from Marcellus Shale deposits is being fought from the ground up. The extraction methodology now preferred for its efficiencies is hydraulic fracturing. “Hydro-fracking” is a method that increases well productivity by fracturing the geologic formation in which resides the objective resource thereby increasing the drainage area of the well.1 This process was first patented in 1953 and has been utilized in various well drilling applications such as well bore repair, assisting with secondary recovery and disposal of wastes.2
In recent years hydro-fracking has become quite popular in natural gas recovery particularly in the Marcellus Shale deposits. In this application, the technique consists of drilling a natural gas recovery well several thousand feet below ground surface and then turning the well horizontally through the Marcellus Shale.3 High pressure fluids are injected deep into the well to fracture the dense shale formations in which the natural gas is trapped. This “frack fluid” contains proppants such as sand, ceramics or other particulates that are pumped into the fractures to keep the fractures dilated while the gas is extracted.4
