Drilling Is Tied to Gas in Eastern Well Water

By BEN CASSELMAN
WSJ

Natural-gas drilling appears to be allowing potentially explosive methane gas to seep into some drinking-water wells in Pennsylvania and New York, according to a study by scientists from Duke University.

The Duke researchers tested 60 private water wells in Pennsylvania and New York, and found that those near gas wells had methane levels that were 17 times as high as those in non-drilling areas. While not considered a toxin, methane bubbling out of the water can build up and cause fires or explosions.

The researchers didn't find any evidence that chemicals used in the drilling process were leeching into water supplies, as some environmentalists and other critics of the drilling have contended.

The natural-gas industry immediately took issue with the size and methodology of the study, which is one of the first independent investigations into the effects of gas extraction on drinking water, and is sure to fuel the growing controversy over drilling for gas.

(More here.)