Study explores groundwater degradation from hydraulic fracturing

摘要

In January 2016 the National Ground Water Research and Educational Foundation awarded the State University of New York (SUNY) Polytechnic Institute in Utica, New York, United States, a US$6,550 research grant to use probabilistic risk assessment and fault tree analysis (FTA) to evaluate potential groundwater degradation from hydraulic fracturing. Both the principal investigator for the research project, Carolyn Rodak, PhD, and the coinvestigator, Xinchao Wei, are assistant professors in the College of Engineering at SUNY Polytechnic Institute. Their research aims to develop models and data standards that bring together scientific data to inform local policymakers and decision-makers about the contamination of drinking water from household wells in addition to assisting local officials in responding to public concerns.