Chester Engineers also is evaluating an alternative drilling method for combined fracking and drilling using a high-pressure cutting head rather than the head typically used, says Chester's president and CEO, Robert Agbede. He says, if successful, the technology will be able to recycle and reuse the water for cutting and other operations and therefore lower the overall consumption of water while reducing energy consumption.

Golder offers a modeling program, called Fracman, that analyzes the natural fracture system in the shale and simulates what is occurring during hydrofracking, says Cliff Reitter, principal with Golder Associates. “[The model] optimizes orientation of the well, the fracking pressure and the fluid. And it looks at what actually gets stimulated during a hydraulic fracture,” he says. It presents a “clearer picture of what's there,” which could ultimately reduce unnecessary hydrofracking, he adds.

While engineering and energy companies continue to move forward, considerable uncertainty lies ahead. Those on both sides of the issue are eagerly awaiting the outcome of the EPA study, with both camps seeming confident that it will confirm their arguments. Meanwhile, the controversy continues.

“If there are issues with well designand construction, there is the possibility for impact on surface water. But it has no relation to the hydro fracking which is going on 5,000 feet deep.”

David Breitmayer,GolderAssociates

Matt Armstrong, an attorney in the Washington, D.C., office of Bracewell & Giuliani, which has several energy-related clients, believes best management practices already exist to mitigate the risks in the oil and gas exploration and production process. “The question is, are enough participants in the industry following the best management practices and complying with the regulations in a manner that is sufficiently protective of the communities in which they operate?” he says. “I think what you're seeing is that it's going to be necessary for the industry itself and the government, through increased inspections and enforcement, to make sure that smaller companies with less tolerance for increased costs” measure up to what big independents and integrated oil-and-gas producers are doing: spending the money up front to make sure things are constructed properly and that they following the law.

But for Dimock, Pa., resident Victoria Switzer, the problems run deeper. In testimony before the Pennsylvania Legislature last April, she said, “The gas company is not going to leave this area until it has extracted the last isotope of gas. In this frenzy, safety and caution have been abandoned. I fear there will be little we can do to correct or restore something as huge as this massive industrialization of rural Pennsylvania.”