In a new study, researchers tallied spills at hydraulic fracturing sites between 2005 and 2014 in Colorado, New Mexico, North Dakota and Pennsylvania, reports UPI. Researchers surveyed state records of incidents at 31,481 fracking wells. According to their work, the decade yielded 6,648 spills in just four states. "State spill data holds great promise for risk identification and mitigation," Lauren Patterson, policy researcher at Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, explained in a news release. "However, reporting requirements differ across states, requiring considerable effort to make the data usable for analysis."

A recent study by Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Public Solutions analyzed the spill data; the Science for Nature and People Partnership mapped the incidents, the materials spilled and if it affected the water, reports Progressive Pulse. But according to Duke University researcher Lauren Patterson, inconsistencies in state reporting requirements make it difficult to pinpoint the number of spills and amount of gallons involved. For example, North Dakota requires spills of 42 gallons or more to be reported, the study found. That could explain why that state had the greatest number of spills. Meanwhile, the reporting threshold was higher in Colorado and New Mexico: 210 gallons.

In a new study published in the Journal of Environmental Management, the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions’ Lauren Patterson and the U.S. Geological Survey’s Kelly Maloney report that transportation of waste associated with the development of unconventional oil and gas in Pennsylvania increases the cost of road repairs not only in Pennsylvania but in counties in the surrounding states of West Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, and New York. Between July 2010 and December 2013, the estimated cost to repair roads damaged by trucks transporting unconventional oil and gas waste ranged from $3 million to $18 million. Although the majority of these costs were concentrated in Pennsylvania (79 percent), Ohio counties absorbed some of them (16 percent). 

Switching from coal- to gas-fired power reduces greenhouse gas emissions, but the transition's net effect on water consumption is a more complicated calculation, according to a working paper from Duke and Harvard universities. EnergyWire reports that Pennsylvania's coal-to-gas conversion resulted in an annual 2.6 to 8.4 percent increase in water use across the state. On a local level, though, the net effect was tied to available natural gas resources and pre-existing power-generating infrastructure.

A new study co-authored by researchers at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, and the University of Calgary provides the first comprehensive representation of changing water consumption patterns associated with fuel extraction and power generation, the Resources for the Future blog reports.

Extraction of coal and natural gas and power generation from both fuels contributed to a yearly 2.6 to 8.4 percent increase in water consumption in Pennsylvania during the early stages of the coal-to-gas transition from 2009 to 2012. However, impacts varied across the state as some areas experienced no change or large decreases in water consumption, according to a new working paper examining the water implications of Pennsylvania’s energy extraction and generation choices.

In the Contra Costa Times, the Nicholas Institute's Lauren Patterson and Martin Doyle write that California should be taking the lead in water management—much like it's led on climate issues—by using smart water metering, sensors and data analytics for utilities. They say that investing in water metering and data analytics could help California better manage the water it has in times of drought and beyond.

Allowing polluters to buy, sell or trade water-quality credits could significantly reduce pollution in river basins and estuaries faster and at lower cost than requiring the facilities to meet compliance costs on their own, a new Duke University-led study finds. The scale and type of the trading programs, though critical, may matter less than just getting them started.