Shale Gas Exploration in Poland Did Not Significantly Affect The Environment, Says Ministry

Explorations for shale gas in Poland had ‘not significantly affected the state of the environment’, reads a report commissioned by the Polish Ministry of Environment. 

According to a note released by the Ministry, the work performed by national research institutes and universities before, during and after the operations suggested that hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, did not have a significant impact on groundwater and surface waters. 

‘The investigations … did not identify any significant and permanent changes in the chemical composition of groundwater and surface waters, or a deterioration of the soil parameters in agricultural terms, or higher concentrations of radioactive elements (radon) in soil’ reads the communiqué. 

The analyses indicates that acoustic and environmental consequences were of short duration.

‘The operations did not affect, either, the status of groundwater resources (they did not lower the groundwater table). In several cases, the parameters analysed were found to grow on a temporary basis in the soil air. It was found that this had resulted from the accumulation of contemporary products of natural biological transformations under the foil sealing the investigated areas or, in one case, from Carboniferous coal seams.’

According to the Ministry, the research will help Polish officials to come up with ‘good environmental practices for operations related to shale gas’