The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said Thursday that it found no "widespread, systemic" drinking water contamination problems from hydraulic fracturing, but the oil and natural gas industry isn't completely in the clear.
While the EPA referred to its nearly 1,000-page study as the most comprehensive analysis of the drinking water impacts from fracking to date, it acknowledged multiple limitations with the research. Chief among them was that researchers relied heavily on the industry for their data.
"We feel very confident in our conclusions about identifying key vulnerabilities," EPA science adviser Thomas Burke told reporters Thursday. "The study was not, nor was it intended to be, an empirical catalogue of all incidents of contamination."
That kind of limitation spurred Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food and Water Watch, to declare that the research "falls far short of the level of scrutiny and government oversight needed to protect the health and safety of the millions of American people."
The study also documented numerous cases of groundwater or drinking water contamination from fracking and related activities, including some well casing structures that were compromised from the fracking process itself, Burke said. (emphasis added)
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Of course, the fackers who flagrantly ignore safety regs will be overlooked by those pushing the drilling. And those dependent on well water who are near frackers continue to deal with fouled wells or fears their water could be useless in near future.
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