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hydraulic fracturing

ProPublica: Feds link water contamination to fracking for the first time

Posted Mon, 2011/12/12 - 4:09pm by RCAP

by Abrahm Lustgarten and Nicholas Kusnetz ProPublica, Dec. 8, 2011, 8:18 p.m.

In a first, federal environment officials today scientifically linked underground water pollution with hydraulic fracturing, concluding that contaminants found in central Wyoming were likely caused by the gas drilling process.

The findings by the Environmental Protection Agency come partway through a separate national study by the agency to determine whether fracking presents a risk to water resources.

Times Union: Pioneering technology used to free natural gas from rocks, avoiding the pollution of vast amounts of water

Posted Wed, 2011/11/09 - 12:27pm by RCAP

Upstate New York's Times Union newspaper reports in a Nov. 7 article that an emerging technology developed in Canada does away with the need for water in the process of extracting natural gas from the earth, popularly known as fracking. "Instead, it relies on a thick gel made from propane, a widely available gas used by anyone who has fired up a backyard barbecue grill," the article says.

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EPA announces final study plan to assess hydraulic fracturing

Posted Tue, 2011/11/08 - 12:45pm by RCAP

Congressionally directed study will evaluate potential impacts on drinking water

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Nov. 3 its final research plan on hydraulic fracturing. At the request of Congress, EPA is working to better understand potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources. Natural gas plays a key role in our nation’s clean energy future, and the Obama administration is committed to ensuring that we continue to leverage this vital resource responsibly.