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In this file photo, Syracuse University hydrology professor Donald Siegel examines a sample of Marcellus shale at an outcropping on Route 174 in Marcellus. A leading journal has just runa lengthy correction on an article Siegel authored in which he did not disclose his ties to the drilling industry.

(David Lassman | dlassman@syracuse.com)

Syracuse, N.Y. -- A leading scientific journal has run a lengthy correction clarifying that a Syracuse University professor and his co-authors were paid by the gas industry on a recent study.

Environmental Science & Technology says that SU prof Donald Siegel was paid by Chesapeake Energy for his work, and at least one of his co-authors worked for Chesapeake during the study period.

The original article, published online last month, simply said "the authors declare no competing financial interest."

The article was favorable to gas drillers because it found that drinking wells in Pennsylvania had not been contaminated with methane from nearby fracking wells. The study was touted by pro-fracking activists as evidence that the process is safe. Anti-fracking activists say they didn't trust the paper because the water samples were provided by Chesapeake and because Siegel and one of the co-authors, Bert Smith, had financial ties to the company.

In a response to an ethics complaint from Syracuse environmental lawyer Joe Heath, Syracuse University said that Siegel had done nothing wrong.

"Professor Siegel is in compliance with our internal procedures regarding disclosure of conflicts of interest," wrote Gina Lee-Glauser, SU's vice president for research.

A spokesman for the American Chemical Society, which publishes the journal, told Inside Climate News that "transparency is absolutely essential" on studies involving research on risks of fracking.

The correction, which forms the entire first page of the article, says the authors' ties to the drilling industry did not affect the outcome.

"The opinion and conclusions expressed in this paper are strictly those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of Chesapeake Energy," the correction says. "None of the authors have competing corporate interests exceeding guidelines presented by ES&T."

Ruskin told Inside Climate News that the controversy could damage Siegel's credibility.

"It does raise a flag with an editor of a journal when an author comes in with these kinds of issues in the past," he said.

A third author of the paper, Nicholas Azzolina, of Wisconsin, said last month that Siegel's failure to disclose the connections to Chesapeake was "just an oversight."

"He just presumed everybody would know we're using Chesapeake's database, so of course we're working for Chesapeake," Azzolina said. "There is no impropriety here."

Fracking, a drilling technique that injects millions of gallons of water deep underground to extract natual gas from rock, has been allowed in Pennsylvania for years. Last year, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said New York would ban fracking until its health effects became more clear.

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