Impact of Shale Gas Development on Regional Water Quality

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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

Full Text Article

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

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