(hat tip to organic consumers)

From the Texas Tribune.

University of Texas at Arlington researchers tested 100 private water wells in 2011 …

Those with dangerously high levels of arsenic — about one-third of the wells — tended to be much closer to natural gas wells than those that were not contaminated.

 

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The study’s authors were cautious but I think this is pretty solid.  What would be better is if the wells were tested by the university BEFORE fracking began.   Then it would be pretty hard to deny that fracking is the cause of the high levels of arsenic.   That absolutely should be a requirement before fracking is allowed in an area–the wells should be tested by independent labs (universities are great, as long as they’re not being bankrolled by corporate interests such as Halliburton) .  And they should be re-tested after fracking has commenced.

And the water usage in fracking is rarely brought up–that concerns me as much as poisoning the water.  How many gallons of precious water is used for this dirty process?  How much does this drain the aquifers?

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