A new report by Duke University researchers offers several health and environmental measures for North Carolina lawmakers to consider as they debate legalizing horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing for natural gas. The study, which has been published in the journal Duke Environmental Law and Policy Forum, looks at potential environmental hazards and how lawmakers in other states are factoring health and environmental risks into regulatory approaches targeting the natural gas extraction method.
See below for a link to the journal article, the authors biographies and previous Duke work on hydraulic fracturing.
Author Bios
Sarah Plikunas
Climate & Energy Associate in Research
Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions
Brooks Rainey Pearson
Policy Counsel
Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions
Rob Jackson
Nicholas Professor of Global Environmental Change, Associate Dean for Research and Professor of Biology
Nicholas School of the Environment
Jonas Monast
Director, Climate & Energy Program
Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions
Avner Vengosh
Professor in Earth and Ocean Sciences
Nicholas School of the Environment
Previous Work on Hydraulic Fracturing
PNAS Paper: Methane Contamination of Drinking Water Accompanying Gas-Well Drilling and Hydraulic Fracturing
Whitepaper: Research and Policy Recommendations for Hydraulic Fracturing and Shale Gas Extraction