April 2019
Intermediate to advanced
576 pages
27h 32m
English
The scale of potential risks and impacts from drilling and extraction of tight oil and shale gas is unprecedented in many of the affected communities. This chapter describes the possible impacts and significance from drilling, hydraulic fracturing, and producing phases described in Chapter 4. It also lays the foundation and describes the overall impacts and mitigation measures associated with oil and gas production from horizontal drilling and high‐volume hydraulic fracture (HVHF) stimulation methods. A variety of concerns are associated with tight oil and shale gas exploration–production activities as presented in Table 5.1.
Table 5.1 Summary of general concerns associated with tight oil and shale gas resource development.
| Affected resource or issue | General concern | Chapters |
| Air resources | Exposure to noise, odors, volatile chemicals, silica dust from proppants, and construction dust. Greenhouse gases are the product of using fossil fuels | Chapter 8 |
| Cultural and paleontological resources | Collection, damage or vandalism of fossils, petroglyphs, historic artifacts, historic trails, and sacred places due to new access | Chapter 5 |
| Ecological resources | Species extinction, wildlife habitat fragmentation, introduction of invasive species, interference with breeding, and poaching due to new access | Chapter 11 |
| Soil and rock resources | Soil erosion related to land disturbance and spillage ... |