Fracking Chemicals Detected in Pennsylvania Drinking Water

[cali]

An analysis of drinking water sampled from three homes in Bradford County, Pa., revealed traces of a compound commonly found in Marcellus Shale drilling fluids, according to a study published on Monday.

The paper, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, addresses a longstanding question about potential risks to underground drinking water from the drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. The authors suggested a chain of events by which the drilling chemical ended up in a homeowner’s water supply.

“This is the first case published with a complete story showing organic compounds attributed to shale gas development found in a homeowner’s well,” said Susan Brantley, one of the study’s authors and a geoscientist from Pennsylvania State University.

The industry has long maintained that because fracking occurs thousands of feet below drinking-water aquifers, the drilling chemicals that are injected to break up rocks and release the gas trapped there pose no risk. In this study, the researchers note that the contamination may have stemmed from a lack of integrity in the drill wells and not from the actual fracking process far below. The industry criticized the new study, saying that it provided no proof that the chemical came from a nearby well.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/05/science/earth/fracking-chemicals-detected-in-pennsylvania-drinking-water.html?_r=0
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[Politicalboi]

1. But it's safe to frack

BP tells us so.

Fracking is going to speed up our inevitable demise.

[malthaussen]

2. You'll find it humorous to know...

... that I have an ad for shale oil on the page as I am reading this. Hey, wave of the future, don't you know? Clean energy. And it's normal for water to burn, and furthemore those chemicals probably came from tree-hugging hippies pissing in the woods or something.

Although, hell, I live in Montgomery County, where fracking isn't allowed. Sucks to be Bradford, yeah!

-- Mal

[Pooka Fey]

3. K&R

[bluegopher]

4. Um... they taste good and they're good for ya?

Sigh.