6
of these supposed dangers in books, movies, and news media. One of the most
prevalent of the perceived risks is that fracking will lead to the widespread contamination of groundwater, including the shallow aquifers that supply drinking water for
many domestic wells. This concern led the U.S. Congress to ask the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) to investigate in 2010.
After an exhaustive five-year study of the potential risks to underground sources
of drinking water (the official EPA name for shallow groundwater), the EPA published a massive report of their findings (USEPA 2016). The study concluded that
while fracking may cause local pollution and environmental impacts, the data do not
show that fracking results in widespread, systemic groundwater contamination.
This was boldly stated in the draft version of the report, but the EPA scientific advisory board responded to environmentalist objections and commented that the lack
of available data could not support such a firm conclusion. It was much more subdued (but still there) in the final report.
Many other independent research papers on the environmental risks from fracking at both large-scale and site-specific levels also have been published in the last
decade. A representative but by no means exhaustive list includes: Hayes (2009),
Engle et al. (2011), Osborn et al. (2011), Fisher and Warpinski (2012), Rowan and
Kraemer (2012), Warner et al. (2012), Gassiat et al. (2013), Jackson et al. (2013),
Litovitz et al. (2013), Vidic et al. (2013), Bloomdahl et al. (2014), Brantley et al.
(2014), Cluff et al. (2014), Davies et al. (2014), Esswein et al. (2014), Hammack
et al. (2014), Hladik et al. (2014), Ingraffea et al. (2014), Moore et al. (2014), Orem
et al. (2014), Pétron et al. (2014), Soeder et al. (2014), Vengosh et al. (2014),
Ziemkiewicz et al. (2014), Birdsell et al. (2015), Drollette et al. (2015), Llewellyn
et al. (2015), McMahon et al. (2015), Phan et al. (2015), Reagan et al. (2015),
Rodriguez and Soeder (2015), Siegel et al. (2015), Townsend-Small et al. (2015),
Werner et al. (2015), Akob et al. (2016), Allen (2016), Eisele et al. (2016), Kahrilas
et al. (2016), Lefebvre (2016), McMahon et al. (2016), Renock et al. (2016),
Butkovskyi et al. (2017), Cahill et al. (2017), Cozzarelli et al. (2017), Goetz et al.
(2017), Costa et al. (2017), Krupnick and Echarte (2017), McMahon et al. (2017),
Meng (2017), Orem et al. (2017), Yan et al. (2017), Banan and Gernand (2018), Bari
and Kindzierski (2018), Barth-Naftilan et al. (2018), Bean et al. (2018), Benedict
et al. (2018), Brantley et al. (2018), Engelder and Zevenbergen (2018), Entrekin
et al. (2018), Omara et al. (2018), Pekney et al. (2018), Soeder and Kent (2018),
Williams et al. (2018), Woda et al. (2018), Allshouse et al. (2019), Forde et al.
(2019), McMahon et al. (2019), Thomas et al. (2019) and Mumford et al. (2020).
There are literally hundreds of these studies, and the uptick in publications over
the last five years is no fluke – the number of ongoing investigations has increased
significantly in recent years. The most comprehensive list of fracking-related environmental research has been compiled by the Health Effects Institute in Boston and
is available on their website. Remarkably, none of the studies so far have produced
data that contradict the findings of the EPA assessment.
Many environmentalists are unhappy with the inability of researchers to document fracking as a cause of widespread environmental devastation because it challenges cherished beliefs. Beliefs are not facts, however. It is important to understand
1 Introduction
of these supposed dangers in books, movies, and news media. One of the most
prevalent of the perceived risks is that fracking will lead to the widespread contamination of groundwater, including the shallow aquifers that supply drinking water for
many domestic wells. This concern led the U.S. Congress to ask the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) to investigate in 2010.
After an exhaustive five-year study of the potential risks to underground sources
of drinking water (the official EPA name for shallow groundwater), the EPA published a massive report of their findings (USEPA 2016). The study concluded that
while fracking may cause local pollution and environmental impacts, the data do not
show that fracking results in widespread, systemic groundwater contamination.
This was boldly stated in the draft version of the report, but the EPA scientific advisory board responded to environmentalist objections and commented that the lack
of available data could not support such a firm conclusion. It was much more subdued (but still there) in the final report.
Many other independent research papers on the environmental risks from fracking at both large-scale and site-specific levels also have been published in the last
decade. A representative but by no means exhaustive list includes: Hayes (2009),
Engle et al. (2011), Osborn et al. (2011), Fisher and Warpinski (2012), Rowan and
Kraemer (2012), Warner et al. (2012), Gassiat et al. (2013), Jackson et al. (2013),
Litovitz et al. (2013), Vidic et al. (2013), Bloomdahl et al. (2014), Brantley et al.
(2014), Cluff et al. (2014), Davies et al. (2014), Esswein et al. (2014), Hammack
et al. (2014), Hladik et al. (2014), Ingraffea et al. (2014), Moore et al. (2014), Orem
et al. (2014), Pétron et al. (2014), Soeder et al. (2014), Vengosh et al. (2014),
Ziemkiewicz et al. (2014), Birdsell et al. (2015), Drollette et al. (2015), Llewellyn
et al. (2015), McMahon et al. (2015), Phan et al. (2015), Reagan et al. (2015),
Rodriguez and Soeder (2015), Siegel et al. (2015), Townsend-Small et al. (2015),
Werner et al. (2015), Akob et al. (2016), Allen (2016), Eisele et al. (2016), Kahrilas
et al. (2016), Lefebvre (2016), McMahon et al. (2016), Renock et al. (2016),
Butkovskyi et al. (2017), Cahill et al. (2017), Cozzarelli et al. (2017), Goetz et al.
(2017), Costa et al. (2017), Krupnick and Echarte (2017), McMahon et al. (2017),
Meng (2017), Orem et al. (2017), Yan et al. (2017), Banan and Gernand (2018), Bari
and Kindzierski (2018), Barth-Naftilan et al. (2018), Bean et al. (2018), Benedict
et al. (2018), Brantley et al. (2018), Engelder and Zevenbergen (2018), Entrekin
et al. (2018), Omara et al. (2018), Pekney et al. (2018), Soeder and Kent (2018),
Williams et al. (2018), Woda et al. (2018), Allshouse et al. (2019), Forde et al.
(2019), McMahon et al. (2019), Thomas et al. (2019) and Mumford et al. (2020).
There are literally hundreds of these studies, and the uptick in publications over
the last five years is no fluke – the number of ongoing investigations has increased
significantly in recent years. The most comprehensive list of fracking-related environmental research has been compiled by the Health Effects Institute in Boston and
is available on their website. Remarkably, none of the studies so far have produced
data that contradict the findings of the EPA assessment.
Many environmentalists are unhappy with the inability of researchers to document fracking as a cause of widespread environmental devastation because it challenges cherished beliefs. Beliefs are not facts, however. It is important to understand
1 Introduction