November 2, 2015
From North Texans for Natural Gas:
The scientific consensus is that fracking does not pose a major risk of groundwater pollution. In fact, public data actually show that natural gas and fracking can help preserve precious water resources.
Below is a list of major scientific studies and expert assessments that confirm fracking is not an inherent threat to groundwater.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Yale University (2015): Fracking has not contaminated drinking water in the Marcellus Shale.
- “There was no evidence of association with deeper brines or long-range migration of these compounds to the shallow aquifers. Encouragingly, drinking water sources affected by disclosed surface spills could be targeted for treatment and monitoring to protect public health.” (p. 5)
- “We have found no evidence for direct communication with shallow drinking water wells due to upward migration from shale horizons. This result is encouraging, because it implies there is some degree of temporal and spatial separation between injected fluids and drinking water supply.” (p.5)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2015): No evidence of widespread water contamination from fracking.
- “[H]ydraulic fracturing activities have not led to widespread, systematic impacts to drinking water resources.”
U.S. District Court, Wyoming (2015): Experts have confirmed no water contamination from fracking.
- “[E]xperts and government regulators have repeatedly acknowledged a lack of evidence linking the hydraulic fracturing process to groundwater contamination.” (p. 26)
The list goes on and on. See more than a dozen additional studies at North Texans for Natural Gas.
