All the drilling, water withdrawals and water pollution associated with the rapid recent development of Marcellus shale gas in Pennsylvania and four other Appalachian states has attracted the attention of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The EPA announced today that it will conduct a comprehensive $1.9 million study to investigate “the potential adverse impact that hydraulic fracturing may have on water quality and public health.”
The fracturing, or “fracking,” is a process that injects millions of gallons of water mixed with chemicals and sand into a gas well under great pressure to create horizontal and vertical cracks in the thick black shale lying 5,000 to 8,000 feet beneath three-quarters of Pennsylvania and parts of New York, Ohio, Maryland and West Virginia.
Beaver County Blue: Voice of the 17th CD of Progressive Democrats of America 