Researcher loses funding after study supports use of fracking

[Valin]

Washington Examiner:

Kyle Feldscher

3/10/16

 

A study by researchers at the University of Cincinnati found fracking does not cause groundwater contamination, but now those researchers are having trouble finding funding to continue their work.

 

Amy Townsend-Small, an assistant professor of geology at University of Cincinnati, led a three-year monitoring study of private drinking wells in Carroll County, Ohio. The study, which was a graduate student's thesis paper, monitored drinking water before, during and after fracking operations began in the area, which would differ from other studies that started after fracking operations began.

 

Studies on whether fracking contaminates groundwater have been mixed. Some have found no groundwater contamination from the process. Some have found that surface pollution tends to seep down into rock and contaminate groundwater, while others have shown that fracking wastewater has moved from underground wells into aquifers used for drinking water. A preliminary report from the Environmental Protection Agency found no "widespread, systemic" pollution of groundwater, but that has been challenged by its Science Advisory Board, and a teleconference is being held on it Thursday.

 

(Snip)