No Link Between Fracking & Groundwater Contamination? New Study
"What we've tried to do is separate fact from fiction."
Those are the words of Charles Groat, lead author of a new study from the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin. This study has found "no evidence" of hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," leading to groundwater contamination.
According to Groat they "found no direct evidence of the hydraulic fracturing itself - the practice of fracturing the rocks - had contaminated the shallow aquifer." More after the jump...
Energy in Depth, a national pro-drilling industry group, has circulated the results in hopes that they will put to rest some of the environmental fears expressed by many critics of the fracking process.
"The University of Texas study confirms what previous studies have stated in its conclusion that hydraulic fracturing has not directly been tied to one instance of groundwater contamination," says Tow Stewart, who serves as executive vice president of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association as well as executive director of Energy in Depth - Ohio.
The researchers examined evidence from three of the nation's major shale gas production areas: the Marcellus Shale, the Barnett Shale, and the Haynesville Shale.
The report was done without industry funding and with the participation of a well-known watchdog organization, the Environmental Defense Fund. This speaks well of the stated desire to find the facts about fracking.
The researchers examined evidence from three of the nation's major shale gas production areas: the Marcellus Shale, the Barnett Shale, and the Haynesville Shale.
The report was done without industry funding and with the participation of a well-known watchdog organization, the Environmental Defense Fund. This speaks well of the stated desire to find the facts about fracking.
The new report also states that hydraulic fracturing is blamed for many problems which are actually related to such things as casing failures and poor cement jobs, processes common to oil-and-gas drilling operations.
"Many outside observers have concluded that it is 'likely,' 'highly likely,' or 'definitely proven' that shale gas extraction is resulting in widespread contamination of groundwater in the U.S." the report continues, while showing that the facts gathered from their research does not support these views.
"Many outside observers have concluded that it is 'likely,' 'highly likely,' or 'definitely proven' that shale gas extraction is resulting in widespread contamination of groundwater in the U.S." the report continues, while showing that the facts gathered from their research does not support these views.
Click here for the story from Ohio.com. Click here for more information on the study.
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