Researchers analyzed well water samples from counties overlying the Marcellus shale formation in Pennsylvania and New York. Accelerated gas drilling and hydrofracking in the region in recent years has fueled concerns about well-water contamination by methane and fracking fluids, which contain a proprietary mix of chemicals that companies often don’t disclose. Above, a hydrofracking protest in Albany, NY, on April 11, 2011. (Credit: Bennett V/Flickr)

DUKE (US) — Researchers found high levels of leaked methane in well water collected near shale-gas drilling and hydrofracking sites in Pennsylvania.

Hydraulic fracturing, also called hydrofracking or fracking, involves pumping water, sand and chemicals deep underground into horizontal gas wells at high pressure to crack open hydrocarbon-rich shale and extract natural gas.

The scientists collected and analyzed water samples from 68 private groundwater wells across five counties in northeastern Pennsylvania and New York. Findings are reported this week in the Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“At least some of the homeowners who claim that their wells were contaminated by shale-gas extraction appear to be right,” says Robert Jackson, a Duke University professor.

The study found no evidence of contamination from chemical-laden fracking fluids, which are injected into gas wells to help break up shale deposits, or from “produced water,” wastewater that is extracted back out of the wells after the shale has been fractured.

“We found measurable amounts of methane in 85 percent of the samples, but levels were 17 times higher on average in wells located within a kilometer of active hydrofracking sites,” says Stephen Osborn, postdoctoral research associate. The contamination was observed primarily in Bradford and Susquehanna counties in Pennsylvania.

Water wells farther from the gas wells contained lower levels of methane and had a different isotopic fingerprint.

The New York Public Interest Group delivered 10,000 signatures from New Yorkers to Gov. Andrew Cuomo today, urging him to protect New York’s drinking water from the dangers of hydrofracking.
New York must not allow the same shoddy level of water quality protection that Pennsylvania has, said Brendan Woodruff, NYPIRG’s hydrofracking campaign organizer. The supposed drilling boom in Pennsylvania is looking more like a boondoggle and the students and citizens who signed these petitions call upon Governor Cuomo to ensure that lax regulations and limited enforcement are not permitted in New York.

The consumer advocacy group Public Citizen is pressing lawmakers to close loopholes that allow energy companies to contaminate drinking water supplies through a controversial gas extraction process known as hydraulic fracturing.
Public Citizen submitted comments to the Department of Energy’s Natural Gas Subcommittee calling for an end to what is known as the Halliburton Loophole. The loophole was added into the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and exempted hydraulic fracturing from the Safe Drinking Water Act.

The State of Maryland plans to file a hydraulic fracturing lawsuit against Chesapeake Energy Corporation over a recent release of gas mining fluids into the state’s water supply.
Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler announced the state’s intention to file the environmental lawsuit on May 2, following a spill that occurred on April 19. Chesapeake Energy allegedly released thousands of gallons of hydrofracking fluid into Towanda Creek, which ultimately feeds into the environmentally sensitive Chesapeake Bay.

Radioactive wastewater is being dumped into the drinking water of Pennsylvania and other states by a controversial drilling process known as hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracking, according to recently obtained documents and investigative reports.

NEW YORK (WCBS 880) – Environmentalists opposed to hydrofracking, a controversial process to extract natural gas from under ground, were protesting outside Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office this week. About two dozen protesters were outside Cuomo’s office calling on him to ban hydrofracking. The process uses water and chemicals to extract natural gas from the earth. …

ALBANY — It was not the sexiest issue making the rounds of the Capitol during the summer doldrums: the injection of water and chemicals under high pressure into rock formations to extract natural gas.
The grass-roots environmental group Frack Action had failed to gain traction in its homegrown fight against the powerful gas and oil industry and the clean water advocates struggled to draw media attention for its opposition to hydrofracking in New York state.