EPA found little evidence that fracking has poisoned drinking water, yet

A long-awaited EPA report found scant evidence that fracking contaminates drinking water — (Image credit: Nigel Roddis/Getty Images)

The EPA has released a draft report on the effects of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, on drinking water, and both advocates and critics of the oil-and-gas-drilling technique claimed vindication. The report notes that fracking has the potential to taint groundwater, highlighting a few instances where the chemicals used in fracking were found in water supplies, including drinking wells, but says those instances of contamination were rare given the tens of thousands of fracking operations — each year since 2011, 25,000 to 30,000 new wells have been drilled and fracked, the report found.

Congress requested the report on fracking and drinking water in 2010, and it won't be finalized until after a period of public comment and peer review by a panel of scientists. The draft report is based on original EPA research and a review of 3,500 published reports. You can read the draft report at the EPA's website.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.