frackingpix.jpeg

A hydraulic fracturing rig was in operation in Carroll County, Ohio, in this 2013 photo.

(Plain Dealer file photo)

A newly released study of fracking in a small Wyoming town has found that common practices in the industry may have widespread impacts on drinking water - a conclusion in direct conflict to U.S. EPA and Yale University reports last year that no such evidence exists.

The latest study was conducted by scientists at Stanford University based on findings from hydraulic fracturing operations in Pavillion, Wyoming, population 231.

The findings were reached based on public records and were published in the latest edition of Environmental Science & Technology.

The Stanford study found a direct link between fracking operations near the town and underground sources of drinking water. The research cited such unsafe practices as the dumping of drilling and production fluids containing diesel fuel, high chemical concentrations in unlined pits, and a lack of adequate cement barriers to protect groundwater.

"This is a wake-up call," said Dominic DiGiulio, a visiting scholar at the Stanford School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences, and the lead author of the study. "It's perfectly legal to inject stimulation fluids into underground drinking water resources. This may be causing widespread impacts on drinking water resources."

Co-author Rob Jackson said, "Decades of activities at Pavillion put people at risk. These are not best practices for most drillers."

Yale researchers released a report in October that concluded fracking does not contaminate drinking water, based on an analysis of groundwater collected from private residences in northeastern Pennsylvania. The study mirrored the EPA findings released in June.

The EPA study was greeted with mixed reviews. The American Petroleum Institute hailed the report as a confirmation of its longheld belief that hydraulic fracturing has not led to widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water. Environmental groups scoffed at the report.

Earthworks, a nonprofit coalition dedicated to protecting communities and the environment from growing threats to its soil, air and water, noted that data contained in the report actually confirmed its claims that fracking does pollute drinking water.

The Stanford study noted that fracking operations involve the injection of waste water into the ground that typically contains potentially dangerous chemicals such as benzene and xylene.

Since 2008, residents of Pavillion have complained of a foul taste and odor in their drinking water, and questioned whether it was related to physical ailments.

Wyoming officials released a series of reports without reaching any firm conclusions. The federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry has advised area residents to avoid bathing, cooking or drinking with water from their taps, the Stanford report said.

In its list of recommendations, the Stanford researchers suggested stricter regulations that would limit shallow fracking and require deeper protective casings.

Jackie Stewart, state director for Energy In Depth-Ohio, a grassroots advocacy, research and education group that supports responsible oil and gas development, said the Stanford study is not new and uses discredited data by the same researcher who wrote EPA's original report.

She cited a University of Cincinnati study released in February that found fracking operations in Carroll County and other areas of the Utica shale region are not contaminating water wells in Ohio.

"We haven't seen anything to show that wells have been contaminated by fracking," said Amy Townsend-Small, the lead researcher for the university's Department of Geology

She said the results were not publicized after several of the financiers of the study were displeased with the findings.

"I am really sad to say this," Townsend-Small said, "but some of our funders ... feel that fracking is scary and so they were hoping this data could lead to a reason to ban it."