Scientists say chemicals from fracking wastewater can taint fresh water nearby
Darryl Fears Washington Post May 11, 2016
The boom in unconventional drilling for natural gas known as fracking hit so fast that scientists have had to scramble to determine whether it’s safe for humans and the environment. Mostly they’re still trying to catch up.
But a study by the U.S. Geological Survey appears to have answered a critical question about the millions of gallons of chemical-laced water that are injected into the wells to fracture rocks and release …
Researchers fly over 8,000 well pads and find hundreds of methane leaks
Elizabeth Lepro PublicSource April 7, 2016
As Pennsylvania’s natural gas production continues to expand, so does the possibility of potentially harmful methane emissions.
A new study from scientists in the Environmental Defense Fund’s Oil and Gas program examined the most common sites for methane leaks at oil and gas pads nationwide. A team of researchers partnered with Gas Leaks Inc., a company that uses infrared technology to inspect well pads, to fly a …
A federal jury has awarded two couples nearly $4.25 million after finding one of the largest natural gas drillers in PA polluted their wells
Associated Press March 10, 2016
By MICHAEL RUBINKAM
Two couples were awarded nearly $4.25 million on Thursday after a federal jury found one of the largest natural gas producers in Pennsylvania was responsible for the contamination of their well water, capping a six-year odyssey that turned their sleepy village into a battleground over the nation’s shale drilling and hydraulic fracturing boom.
The verdict in Scranton came at the end of a bitter lawsuit pitting homeowners in …
Science panel faults EPA fracking probe for excluding baseline water testing
Jon Hurdle StateImpact PA January 6, 2016
The Environmental Protection Agency’s landmark investigation into the impact of fracking on drinking water lacked baseline testing that would have made its results more illuminating, according to a scientific panel that assessed it, and independent analysts.
The Hydraulic Fracturing Research Advisory Panel, a unit of the EPA’s Science Advisory Board (SAB), published its evaluation of the EPA’s report on Jan. 7.
The panel said …
Fracking Wastewater Is Cancer-Causing, New Study Confirms
GreenMedinfo.com January 4, 2016
The fracking industry likes to call its product “natural gas,” but the natural consequence of its activity is the production of billions of gallons of cancer-causing wastewater.
A new study published in Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology titled, “Malignant human cell transformation of Marcellus Shale gas drilling flow back water,” is the first study of its kind to confirm widely held suspicions concerning the carcinogenicity of fracking pollution.
The new collaborative study was conducted by …
Toxins found in fracking fluids and wastewater, study shows
Michael Greenwood Yale News January 6, 2016
In an analysis of more than 1,000 chemicals in fluids used in and created by hydraulic fracturing (fracking), Yale School of Public Health researchers found that many of the substances have been linked to reproductive and developmental health problems, and the majority had undetermined toxicity due to insufficient information.
Further exposure and epidemiological studies are urgently …
Fracking Sharply Reduces Property Values for Property Owners Who Use Well Water
Phys.org December 15, 2015
Home values decline steeply when fracking occurs in neighborhoods that use well water, says new research from Duke University. But the outcome differs in neighborhoods that rely on piped water, where home values rise slightly after shale-gas drilling occurs.
The study, conducted in Pennsylvania, found that in areas using well water, home prices dropped by an average of $30,1676 when shale drilling occurred within a distance of 1.5 kilometers. Meanwhile, homes using piped water …
Study: Fracking Industry Wells Associated With Premature Birth
Johns Hopkins School of Public Health October 12, 2015
NEW RESEARCH SUGGESTS INCREASED RISK OF ADVERSE PREGNANCY OUTCOMES CLOSER TO ACTIVE UNCONVENTIONAL NATURAL GAS WELLS
Expectant mothers who live near active natural gas wells operated by the fracking industry in Pennsylvania are at an increased risk of giving birth prematurely and for having high-risk pregnancies, a new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health research suggests.
The findings, published online last week in the journal Epidemiology, shed light on some …
Oil & Gas Drilling Impacts Public Drinking Water Supplies in Potter County
Melissa Troutman Public Herald September 25, 2015
Two public drinking water systems have been impacted and at least seven private water supplies contaminated due to ongoing pollution being caused by a natural gas fracking operation of JKLM Energy in Potter County, Pennsylvania.
An emergency public meeting occurred September 24th at 4PM at the Gunzburger Building in downtown Coudersport to inform the public. Public Herald was the only press agency in the meeting.
“It’s worse than we …
PA Study Links Fracking to Health Hazards in Fetuses, Infants, and Young Childre
Press Release:
Ocean City, NJ – June 15, 2015 – In one of the first studies of its kind, Joseph J. Mangano of the Radiation and Public Health Project found disturbing links between hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and health effects in children younger than five years old.
In the report “Health Hazards to Fetuses, Infants, and Young Children in Heavily-fracked Areas of Pennsylvania,” funded by the Pittsburgh Foundation, Mangano explains that as a relatively new technology in the landscape of natural …
