Study: Fracking didn’t impact WV groundwater, but wastewater spills pollute streams
April 24, 2017 | 6:18 PM
In this photo made on Saturday, March 1, 2014, a truck drives through an intersection in Clarksburg, W. Va. In March of 2013, a truck carrying drilling water overturned near the same intersection onto a car driven by Lucretia Mazzei, killing her two sons, 7-year-old Nicholas Mazzei-Saum and his 8-year-old brother Alexander Mazzei-Saum. An analysis of traffic fatalities in the busiest new oil and gas-producing counties in the U.S. shows a sharp rise in deaths that experts say is related to the drilling boom. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Fracking the Marcellus Shale did not pollute groundwater in northwestern West Virginia, but wastewater spills did contaminate surface water, according to a new study from Duke University. The report adds to an increasing body of work pointing to greater risks from fracking wastewater transport and treatment, than from the process itself.
The study was unique in that it monitored drinking water wells and surface water over three years, a longer time period than previous research on the impact of fracking on drinking water. The study also used multiple methods of determining the source of the pollution, and was able to draw on baseline water quality data.
Full story HERE
