LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Many Arkansans are concerned about the fluids natural-gas drillers pump underground for hydraulic fracturing.

But researchers say naturally occurring chemicals, some radioactive, coming out of the wells may be more of an issue.

Avner Vengosh, a professor of geochemistry and water quality at Duke University, has studied the brine – salty water from rock layers such as the Fayette Shale in Arkansas that are fracked for natural gas.

He says brine-containing things such as bromide and naturally radioactive radium could become a problem – even if people have focused on the artificial compounds that drillers put down the holes.

"But the natural occurring constituents are as problematic and sometimes even more – could be very harmful to the environment and human health, but are naturally occurring," he explains.

Vengosh says the oil and gas industries are exempted from the Clean Water Act, otherwise they'd have to clean up the brine before it gets into surface or groundwater.

The industry says it is recycling more of the fracking fluids it uses, and says it is not damaging water quality.

Vengosh agrees that the industry is recycling more. But he says bromide from the brine is still a cause for concern if it gets into the water treated for drinking.

He says bromide combines in a dangerous way with chlorine.

"This combination can generate a very toxic organic compound, could be very toxic if consumed by the people that use the water from this utility," he stresses.

Vengosh adds natural radium in the brine puts out a low level of radioactivity. He says that might not be a concern, but he has found it can accumulate in the sediment at water treatment facilities.

And he says it may also bio-accumulate – build up as organisms feed on each other, perhaps even fish that humans eat.

"It could move from bugs in the sediments into higher organism, higher-order organism and eventually end up with fish," he explains.

He says the good news is that the brine can be treated.

"And it's doable,” he explains. “There's no need for technological breakthroughs. All those technologies are available. The only question is the cost."





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New research by ecology experts in Montana showed even small amounts of development can cause a widespread decline in stream biodiversity.

It does not take a new high-rise, bridge construction or freeway to have major effects on Montana's sensitive river and stream ecosystem.

Michael Sprague, founder and CEO of Livingston-based Trout Headwaters, said even small projects affecting less than 2% of a developed watershed cause significant loss of biodiversity in sensitive areas, and is especially harmful to aquatic life. It is evident in a number of ways.

"Diminishing vegetation, or peeling off topsoil or allowing excess erosion to occur on a site or some of these other things," Sprague explained.

Sprague added there are more chemicals winding up in rivers and streams now, too, which is also having a negative impact on waterway ecology.

Sprague argued even small roads and trails can have a major effect on biodiversity in Montana's waterways, often because roads are the first sign of development in ecologically sensitive areas.

"First of all, how is the road constructed? Is it stable? Is it eroding?," Sprague outlined. "Maybe you bisected a travel corridor for a species. Maybe you ran through some critical habitat or pushed that species off as a result of the road. Maybe that human access now by itself is causing migration."

Road building and development on environmentally sensitive lands remains an issue across the Plains states, where the ecology of rivers and streams is threatened, including on American Indian reservations.

The arrival of fall has farmers transitioning to the harvest season, but what if some gathered their crops with rows of solar panels right alongside them?

Minnesota is part of such emerging projects. The agrivoltaics scene is carving out pathways for utilities and developers to reduce carbon emissions by adding more solar farms, while allowing emerging farmers, who face land-access issues, to grow fruits and vegetables on the same property.

Brian Ross, vice president of renewable energy for the Great Plains Institute, said it is a great example of two worlds working to benefit each other.

"We're all working together to kind of take that example of local food production and try to expand it out. How can we actually put this at scale?" Ross asked. "How can we do it within the context of existing solar-development parameters?"

As they track the effectiveness of smaller projects, Ross noted they need to figure out certain logistics, such as the ideal height of the solar panels. Other partners say irrigation is another puzzle to solve. The Minnesota project involves Connexus Energy, U.S. Solar and Big River Farms. On a solar site just outside the Twin Cities, aspiring farmers are testing adding horticultural vegetation.

Sophia Lenarz-Coy, executive director of The Food Group and Big River Farms, said the pilot initiative can especially help historically disadvantaged farmers.

"Farmers of color, women farmers, folks who have a harder time accessing capital," Lenarz-Coy pointed out. "This is one of the biggest barriers that we see is wanting long-term land access but maybe not having the capital to purchase land."

She added farmers often end up signing leases for property but it makes it harder to grow their operations under short-term contracts. The solar site provides hope in establishing more certainty for producers and the vision they have for their food-growing venture.

Project leaders say another thing they hope to learn is the difference between crops grown underneath and around solar arrays versus crops grown in the open.


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A new report finds more than half of the sewage facilities in Idaho had pollution violations in 2022.

The sixth annual analysis by the Idaho Conservation League says 57% of the state's wastewater treatment plants discharged harmful substances last year.

Will Tiedemann, conservation associate with the Idaho Conservation League, said the report focuses on facilities that had the potential to cause the most harm - such as those releasing wastewater in sensitive habitats.

He said size has had an impact on those violations in recent years.

"There's quite a few facilities that are a little smaller and they do deal with outdated equipment," said Tiedemann, "either failed, you know, or were built 20, 30, 40 years ago."

Collectively, there were 520 violations of the Clean Water Act by Idaho wastewater treatment plants in 2022. The report focuses on three facilities that accounted for a quarter of the violations in Driggs, Jerome and Kuna.

Tiedemann noted that there are some positives in this report. Facilities in 51 cities and towns reported no discharge violations.

Others made significant improvements from 2021 to 2022 - including those in Blackfoot, Marsing and Wilder.

"This isn't an insurmountable issue," said Tiedemann, "that numerous examples of facilities who have dealt with issues and have made the investments and put in the resources and the time and the hard work to address this issue. So we definitely commend those facilities."

Tiedemann said having the means to curtail violations can be a major issue, especially for smaller towns. But he said federal resources are available, including through COVID-19 relief funds.