Windmills, not fracing, a threat to water wells
Posts 80687 - 80699 on Politics of Energy thread
Residents of Ontario are finding their water wells contaminated with black shale sediments containing heavy metals, including arsenic, uranium, mercury, and lead.
Paul Brooks displays a sample of water from his well with black shale sediment visible on the bottom of the container.
Chatham-Kent: land of Black Water — special CBC report
 Marc St-Pierre has not been drinking water from his well for four years since the water came out black.
Although the sediments are visible in an area in Ontario, the lack of visible sediments doesn't mean sediments too small to be seen aren't there. Most black shale sediments are too small to be seen with the human eye. And it's not just pile driving during construction that's a problem. Vibrations from windmill operations can affect water well quality also.
All the stories I'm seeing on this are recent and stem from a region in Ontario where water wells are supplied by an aquifer about 70 feet deep with a shale seam close below it.
Does that mean it's not a problem elsewhere? Or have they simply not noticed a problem elsewhere due to the absence of visible sediments in drinking?
Note: Most water wells draw from relatively shallow sources and most oil and gas wells are thousands of feet below the surface. Based on my knowledge of wells my employer drilled, the only shallow wells (under a thousand feet) drilled were in Kern Co, CA and Alberta. Everywhere else we drilled, in North America, So America, Africa, Asia, Australia, the well depths were at least 3000 feet and usually much more than that. |
