Fracking Study: It’s Not The Process Contaminating Groundwater, It’s the Sloppy Way They Do It

Watch “Gasland” on PBS. See more from NOW on PBS. See, what happens is, the companies who are doing the fracking drilling won’t do it the way it should ideally be done, but if they would do it the way it should be done, there wouldn’t be groundwater contamination ! And as my mother used to say, if pigs had wings, they could fly. In any event, we should all feel a lot better now, knowing that the reason the water is being contaminated is completely different – if related: The hydraulic fracturing of shale formations to develop natural gas has no direct connection to groundwater contamination, according to a study released Feb. 16 by the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin . The study reported that many problems blamed on hydraulic fracturing are related to processes common to all oil and gas drilling operations, such as casing failures or poor cement jobs. University researchers also concluded that many reports of contamination can be traced to above-ground spills or other mishandling of wastewater produced from shale gas drilling, rather than from hydraulic fracturing, Charles “Chip” Groat, an Energy Institute associate director, said in a statement. “These problems are not unique to hydraulic fracturing,” he said.

Fracking Study: It’s Not The Process Contaminating Groundwater, It’s the Sloppy Way They Do It

Posted by Breaking News Online on February 20, 2012. Filed under News, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.