Opponents say the fluids used in hydraulic fracturing taint groundwater. Researchers at the University of Texas, however, say they have "found
no direct evidence that fracking itself has contaminated groundwater." The report was released at the American Association for the
Advancement of Science's just-finished annual meeting. In ScienceNOW,
which is published by the AAAS, lead researcher Charles Groat noted
"that the $380,000 report was independent from the natural-gas industry
and conducted only with university funds."
ScienceNOW reports the study's "underlying white papers were
peer-reviewed" and "the Environmental Defense Fund was consulted on the
overall scope and design of the study." That information is important.
The left cannot moan that the report is a whitewash paid for by the
hated energy industry. The findings should be no surprise. The use of noxious chemicals in fracking is actually rare. "No matter what you may read, hydraulic fracturing does not involve
pumping toxic chemicals under high pressure near public aquifers,"
Stephen Holditch, head of the petroleum engineering department at Texas
A&M University, wrote in January on fuelfix.com's blog. "There has
been some use of diesel fuel as an additive to hydraulic fracturing
fluid in the past — but the use of diesel is quickly being eliminated in
the field."Holditch says that "some 99.5% of what is commonly used in fracking" is simply "a composition of pure water and quartz sand." He noted the other agents that make up the remaining 0.5% are
typically guar gum (also used to thicken food products), detergents
(like those found at home for washing dishes and clothes) and
bactericide (think of the chlorine that treats drinking-water supplies)...more
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