EPA: Fracking a Threat to Drinking Water

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has finally spoken out about the risks posed by fracking to drinking water supplies. The Trump Administration seems very unlikely to head the warning.

1 minute read

January 8, 2017, 9:00 AM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Fracking

Christopher Halloran / Shutterstock

Coral Davenport reports: "The Environmental Protection Agency has concluded that hydraulic fracturing, the oil and gas extraction technique also known as fracking, has contaminated drinking water in some circumstances, according to the final version of a comprehensive study first issued in 2015."

Davenport that the alarm level raised a great deal between the draft version and the final version, the latter released in December 2016.

A separate article by Jared Keller puts the findings of the report another way: "After months of anticipation, the Environmental Protection Agency has confirmed what environmental activists have long believed: Hydraulic fracturing (or fracking), long seen by oil and gas companies as the future of domestic energy production in the United States, carries a significant human cost."

Davenport's reporting frames the report more in context of the likely environmental regulation policies of the incoming Trump Administration: "President-elect Donald J. Trump has vowed to expand fracking and roll back existing regulations on the process."

Tuesday, December 13, 2016 in The New York Times

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