November 2014, Vol. 241, No. 11
Features
Study Finds Fracking Not At Fault For Water Contamination
A study has pinpointed the likely source of most natural gas contamination in drinking-water wells associated with hydraulic fracturing, and it’s not the source many people may have feared. What’s more, the problem may be fixable: improved construction standards for cement well linings and casings at hydraulic fracturing sites. A team led by a researcher at Ohio State University and composed of researchers at Duke, Stanford, Dartmouth, and the University of Rochester devised a new method of geochemical forensics to trace how methane migrates under the earth. The study identified eight clusters of contaminated drinking-water wells in Pennsylvania and Texas. Most impo
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