Public health

Final EPA Study Confirms Fracking Contaminates Drinking Water

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released its widely anticipated final report on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, confirming that the controversial drilling process indeed impacts drinking water "under some circumstances." Notably, the report also removes the EPA’s misleading line that fracking has not led to "widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water resources."

Ray Kemble of Dimock, Pennsylvania, holds a jug of discolored water from his well, contaminated by nearby fracking operations while standing outside of the U.S. EPA building in Washington, DC. "The report, done at the request of Congress, provides scientific evidence that hydraulic fracturing activities […]

More about how hydraulic fracturing (fracking) affects the water supply:

Intensification of the water footprint of hydraulic fracturing

Penn State study: Spraying brine from drilling, fracking on roadways is hazardous

New study examines impacts of fracking on water supplies worldwide

New Mexico official: Texans are ‘stealing’ water and selling it back for fracking

Final EPA Study Confirms Fracking Contaminates Drinking Water

Hydraulic fracturing negatively impacts infant health

5 Million Gallons of Freshwater Used to Frack Just One Well

Recent Posts

Saltwater intrusion will taint 77% of coastal aquifers by century’s end, modeling study finds

Watersheds on the U.S. Eastern Seaboard will be among the areas most affected by underground…

1 week ago

A ‘Devil’ Seaweed Is Spreading Inside Hawaiʻi’s Most Protected Place

An invasive algae has wrecked huge sections of reef in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. Scientists…

1 week ago

A meadow in the Tahoe National Forest was drying up with sagebrush. Now it’s a lush wetland.

Sardine Meadow is a key link in conservation efforts for the Sierra Nevada, north of…

2 weeks ago

Conservation & Sustainability: fertilizer nitrates

UC Davis researchers insert a device that continuously collects water samples underground, providing real-time data…

3 weeks ago

Drought Mitigation: Should We Be Farming in the Desert?

Irrigated farmland in the desert of the Imperial Valley. (Photo credit: Steve Proehl, Getty Images)…

3 weeks ago

Scathing report released detailing Navy’s handling of Red Hill fuel spill

The Inspector General of the Department of Defense released some scathing reports Thursday over the…

1 month ago