Title: Impact of Shale Gas Development on Regional Water Quality
Author: R.D. Vidic, S.L. Brantley, J.M. Vandenbossche, D. Yoxtheimer, and J.D. Abad
Publisher: Science magazine (American Association for the Advancement of Science)
Date: May 17, 2013
Summary:
- Natural gas is a clean energy source with the potential to reduce global emissions by reducing the need for energy imports and allowing countries to transition off coal.
- While fracking does present certain environmental risks, incidents of contamination are very rare and quickly mitigated.
- Throughout the history of fracking, over 1 million fracking treatments have been conducted, and there has been only 1 documented case of direct groundwater contamination.
- When done properly, fracking is a very low-risk endeavor. Additional research can help these risks be further mitigated
