Summarising groundwater contamination

The Marcellus shale is one of the most important formations of shale gas in America, it stores enough methane to supply the whole of the USA for 20 years. It also has important implications regarding energy independence for the USA, who are eager to cut reliance on imported gas from the Middle East.

Some members of the local community lucky enough to have owned land which could be used for natural gas extraction have profited greatly from the fracking boom ($$$$$$$$). But other members of the community have been affected in a much more negative way.

There have been many cases of reported tap water contamination. Residents presented horrendous symptoms that they believed to be caused by the tainted tap water. One resident speaks of purple foam emanating from her tap.

These incidents may be isolated but can we be sure they wont happen again? Is it right that people can't even drink they're own tap water? Are accusations of cover-ups by the drilling companies true? Or is this all mass hysteria drummed up by the press?

The DEP commissioned a report and insisted there was no contamination detectable.....

So where do I stand on this issue?  As a scientist *cough* the evidence so far published is far from providing a complete picture. There is a case to be made that groundwater contamination is solely caused by pipeline failure..if this is the case then surely tighter regulations should be put in place to ensure rigorous testing and maintenance? There is also a case that regardless of pipe integrity, leakage from a drilling site is ultimately controlled by regional geology.

Whether we like it or not, fracking is happening. And its only going to get bigger. I hope that 'practice makes perfect' and advances in technology and testing methods will ensure safe gas extraction for the future. This involves a thorough understanding of the underlying geology of the area and the necessity to make a decision on where to build a fracking site not governed by profit.


check out this link to a video and blog on some of the social impacts of fracking: (http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/fracking-america/)