Update from US EPA on Hydraulic Fracturing Study

EPA Hydraulic Fracturing Study to Include Sites in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale

As a part of its study on potential effects of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has selected seven sites to study in two distinct categories, three of which are in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale.

The EPA will conduct five retrospective case studies nationwide, two of which are from Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale, including one site in Washington County, and another in Susquehanna and Bradford Counties. The other three retrospective case studies, in which water contamination is either confirmed or suspected include one site each from the Bakken Shale in North Dakota, the Barnett Shale in Texas, and the Raton Basin in Colorado.

The other two sites are considered prospective, where the EPA will monitor the hydraulic fracturing process at future drill sites. As with the retrospective sites, one of the prospective sites is a Marcellus Shale well in Washington County, PA, while the other is from the Haynesville Shale in Louisiana.