The British Geological Survey (BGS) in partnership with The Environment Agency (EA) have published a series of maps which show the depth to each shale gas and oil source rock below principal groundwater aquifers in England and Wales.
Understanding the distance between the two is important when assessing the environmental risks of shale gas and oil exploitation - groundwater from aquifers provides 30% of drinking water in the UK and up to 70% of the drinking water in South East England.
The maps will help technical and public understanding of the distance between principal aquifers and the shales/clays of interest for for shale gas and oil exploitation, an important factor when considering the potential contamination risks from hydraulic fracturing and oil/gas well operation.
The maps show that:
- the Principal Aquifers (main drinking water aquifers) are present across a large part (81%) of England and Wales.
- shales and clays which have potential for shale gas/oil are present over more than half (51%) of England and Wales.
- almost half (47%) of the area where Principal Aquifers are present is underlain by one or more of these shales or clays.
Developments will not be allowed to go ahead if they are too close to drinking water sources, and the Environment Agency will not permit the use of chemical additives in hydraulic fracturing fluid that are hazardous to groundwater. However, while many of the shale gas deposits overlap with major water aquifers, almost all of the nation's recoverable shale and oil gas is at least 650 metres below groundwater layers, compared with the United States where shale gas has been extracted 100 metres from water sources.
Dr Alwyn Hart, Head of the air, land and water research team at the Environment Agency said:
“We have strong regulatory controls in place to protect groundwater, and will not permit activity that threatens groundwater and drinking water supplies. These maps will help public understanding of the separation between groundwater and potential shale gas sites.”
Alongside the publication of the aquifer – shale maps, the BGS is also publishing new data on methane in UK groundwater: the National Methane Baseline Survey.
BGS supported by the EA and Defra has been undertaking a survey of methane concentrations in UK aquifers to provide a baseline against which any future changes can be measured. This has become particularly important with increasing interest in shale gas and other unconventional hydrocarbons in the UK.
Click here to access the shale maps
Click here to acess the methane maps
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