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DeSoto Parish is one of two regions in the nation where the Environmental Protection Agency will review hydraulic fracturing as part of its congressionally mandated study on the potential effects of the process on drinking water sources, according to an agency news release Thursday.

DeSoto Parish was selected because of its position in the heart of the prolific natural gas play known as the Haynesville Shale. Also included is Washington County, Pa., which is in the Marcellus Shale.

Both are considered prospective case studies where EPA will monitor key aspects of the hydraulic fracturing process throughout the life cycle of a natural gas well. Five “retrospective case studies” will take place in the Marcellus Shale and one each in the Bakken Shale in North Dakota, Barnett Shale in Texas and Raton Basin in Colorado, with emphasis on the effect on drinking water sources.

“As I have stated here locally and at the national level, decisions regarding hydraulic fracturing should be based on facts and not fear. We have been collecting the facts and should not fear the EPA case study,” said Gary Hanson, Red River Watershed Management Institute director and LSUS resident hydrologist who served earlier this year as theme lead for the EPA’s Hydraulic Fracturing Study Water Use & Sustainability, Water Management Workshop in Washington, D.C.

According to the EPA, the research, which will get under way this summer, will chart the full lifespan of water used in hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, from water acquisition, through the mixing of chemicals, the actual process then the post fracturing stage, including the management of flowback and produced water and its ultimate treatment and disposal.

The first report of results is expected by the end of 2012. However, some portions of the research are long term and will extend into 2014.

Hanson believes another factor that will be helpful to the EPA study is the completion this year of a comprehensive Wilcox Aquifer water quality study of about 1,000 domestic water wells in the Haynesville play area that includes DeSoto Parish.

Led by the Louisiana Geological Survey and support by members of the watershed management institute, this data “set should be of great value to the case study.” This proactive study is funded by Caddo, Bossier and DeSoto parishes and EXCO Resources and was highlighted at the EPA workshop.

Worries about the immediate and future efect on water resources is one of the leading reasons some residents and environmental groups want fracking banned. Fracking requires large volumes of water, sand and chemicals to be injected at high pressure into underground rock formations to allow trapped natural gas or oil to flow into the well for recovery at the surface.

The Barnett Shale, which covers about 24 counties in the North Texas area, is where fracking was pioneered through the use of horizontal wells. It’s considered one of the most developed shale gas formations in the world with about 15,000 producing wells.

Development of the Haynesville Shale began in early 2008. And in its short lifespan, it’s already surpassed the Barnett Shale in total production, earning it the top spot in the nation, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

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