PITTSBURGH (AP) — A landmark federal study on hydraulic fracturing,
or fracking, shows no evidence that chemicals from the natural gas
drilling process moved up to contaminate drinking water aquifers at a
western Pennsylvania drilling site, the Department of Energy told The
Associated Press.
After a year of monitoring, the researchers found that the
chemical-laced fluids used to free gas trapped deep below the surface
stayed thousands of feet below the shallower areas that supply drinking
water, geologist Richard Hammack said.
Although the results are preliminary — the study is still ongoing —
they are the first independent look at whether the potentially toxic
chemicals pose a threat to people during normal drilling operations. But
DOE researchers view the study as just one part of ongoing efforts to
examine the impacts of a recent boom in oil and gas exploration, not a
final answer about the risks.
READ MORE: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ap-study-finds-fracking-chemicals-didnt-spread
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