Adjacent activities
Besides hydraulic fracturing, other shale gas development activities can harm the environment too. The pipeline structures and machinery used in the drilling process are potential pathways for chemicals in hydraulic fracturing fluids to leak into the environment (Vandecasteele et al., 2015)
After the productivity of the well has become insufficient, the boreholes connected to the formation are abandoned. They are then sealed with cement and mechanical plugs the regulations. If the well is property abandoned, there is little to no risk of of freshwater aquifers (King, 2012)