Fracking Doesn’t Contaminate Water

A landmark federal study on the effects of fracking, in which rock is broken up by pressurized liquids, revealed Friday that chemicals used in the drilling process did not move upward toward sources of drinking water. After a year of observation of a site in Pennsylvania, researchers found that the chemical-laced fluids used to release natural gas trapped underground stayed deep beneath the surface, far below the shallow areas that would affect drinking-water aquifers. The results are preliminary, and the study continues, but it is a boost to the natural-gas industry, which has faced intense resistance from environmental groups over fracking.