The heavily reported story describes the results of an ongoing study by the Energy Department’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL).



“The study . . . marked the first time that a drilling company let government scientists inject special tracers into the fracking fluid and then continue regular monitoring to see whether it spread toward drinking water sources,” AP reports.



AP’s story noted the results are preliminary and the study is ongoing. But that wasn’t enough for NETL, which sought to really drive the “preliminary” point home Friday afternoon by issuing a statement in response to the AP story.



Here's the NETL statement:

NETL has been conducting a study to monitor for any signs of groundwater contamination as a result of hydraulic fracturing operations at a site on the Marcellus Shale formation in Pennsylvania. We are still in the early stages of collecting, analyzing, and validating data from this site. While nothing of concern has been found thus far, the results are far too preliminary to make any firm claims. We expect a final report on the results by the end of the calendar year.







