New evidence confirms that fracking endangers groundwater

New evidence confirms that fracking endangers groundwater by Sue Sturgis, September 28, 2012, The Institute for Southern Studies, Facing South
The U.S. Geological Survey released two reports this week confirming that fracking for natural gas has led to groundwater contamination — a fact that has been contested by the industry. The USGS results are consistent with earlier findings by the Environmental Protection Agency that contamination from fracking had seeped into monitoring wells near gas drilling operations in Pavillion, Wyo., a rural community within the Wind River Indian Reservation. The contaminants detected include methane, ethane, diesel compounds and phenol, a known neurotoxin. The driller involved in the operations being monitoring is Encana, a Canadian company that is one of North America’s largest natural gas producers. Its U.S. subsidiary operates in Colorado, Louisiana and Texas as well as Wyoming. … Encana has argued that the contaminants are naturally occurring. However, Rob Jackson, an environmental scientist at Duke University in Durham, N.C., told Bloomberg News that the stray gas concentrations are very high, which “suggests a fossil-fuel source for the gases.” [Emphasis added]

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