In the largest study of its kind, a group of researchers from Yale University, led by Brian D. Drollette and Dr. Desiree Plata of the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, studied the chemicals in groundwater obtained from 64 wells in three Pennsylvania counties where fracking is taking place. They were seeking evidence for groundwater contamination produced from the process of fracking, technically known as high-volume hydraulic fracturing. However, the research team found no such evidence.
The researchers reported no association with deeper pollution sources, nor for long-range migration of these compounds to the shallow aquifers, according to the study's conclusion. The results were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. The water wells they studied were private residence wells near fracking sites.
The Yale researchers found essentially no contamination in well water, and the amounts they did detect were at trace levels, well below the EPA-tolerance levels. These findings constitute yet more evidence which undermines the concerns of "fractavists" about water contamination from fracking. Our own report debunked that notion two years ago, and it was a conclusion that the EPA agreed with just a few months ago.