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The Disposal of Water from Hydraulic Fracturing: A South African Perspective

2019; Springer International Publishing; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1007/978-3-030-18342-4_17

2367-4008

Loretta Feris, WR Harding,

Global Energy and Sustainability Research

Shale gas extraction poses significant risks to scarce groundwater resources in the semi-desert Central Karoo region of South Africa. Review of hastily-compiled Environmental Management Plans, prepared in support of exploration bids, has been scathing. A subsequent Strategic Environmental Assessment did little to assuage concerns about environmental harm or that a regime of regulatory governance, equal to the task, existed at all. In the face of the clear, evident and largely unpredictable challenges, the legal and regulatory tools and experience available for the development of shale gas extraction in South Africa are neophytic at best. There are no existing norms and standards that would transition comfortably into this environmentally-challenging arena. What is needed is a considerable body of further scientific investigation, possibly in parallel with closely controlled, open and transparent pilot-scale drilling and fracturing.