Environmental Groups Win Ruling for Clean Water in New York State
New York, Jan. 26, 2012 — The Westchester County, New York, Supreme Court has ruled that New York State is failing to take legally required steps to clean up one of the biggest sources of pollution in its waterways – stormwater runoff. The decision comes after a lawsuit filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Waterkeeper organizations in the region and other partners, challenging the statewide “general permit” for stormwater discharges from municipal sewers. The court ordered the agency to fix several major flaws in the permit, to ensure all Clean Water Act requirements are met.
The lawsuit, filed in 2010, sought to address stormwater pollution concerns in nearly 300 water bodies in New York, including those under scrutiny in Westchester County. The court rejected the state’s contention that compliance schedules to meet water quality standards are optional in permits, following the precedent of a previous ruling of a federal appeals court rejecting the EPA’s stormwater regulations for the same reasons.
“The faults in New York’s stormwater permits are emblematic of nationwide deficiencies in addressing stormwater pollution under the Clean Water Act,” said Marc Yaggi, Executive Director of the Waterkeeper Alliance. “Waterkeeper Alliance and our Waterkeeper organizations across the country seek improved oversight by environmental regulators and meaningful participation in decision-making that affects the quality of our waterways and health of the communities that depend on them.”
The Court affirmed that the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is responsible, under the federal Clean Water Act and state law, for ensuring that stormwater pollution is reduced “to the maximum extent practicable” –and reduced to low enough levels that it no longer puts hundreds of water bodies out of compliance with state water quality standards. Specifically, the court ordered DEC to re-write the MS4 General Permit to correct three fatal flaws:
Lack of Department of Environmental Conservation oversight: The permit abdicated DEC’s responsibility to review municipalities’ stormwater pollution control measures, to ensure they are sufficient to meet Clean Water Act standards. Instead, the permit allowed municipalities to self-certify their own plans, creating unchecked opportunities for “misunderstanding, misrepresenting, or misapplying” the applicable requirements.
Missing compliance schedules: For cities and towns that send their runoff into water bodies where DEC has established pollution reduction budgets (i.e., TMDLs), the permit failed to establish “compliance schedules” to reduce runoff. These compliance schedules must include both interim and final deadlines, to ensure steady progress towards meeting the state’s long-term pollution reduction targets.
Excluding public participation: The permit denied the general public the right to participate in a DEC hearing, in connection with the agency’s review of each municipality’s proposed stormwater pollution control measures, at which concerned citizens may object to proposals that fail to meet state and federal standards. Citizen groups often use such Clean Water Act permit hearings to introduce expert testimony — or even their own data and observations drawn from community-based sampling and knowledge of local conditions — in support of stronger water quality protections.
NRDC spearheaded the lawsuit, joined by a coalition of environmental groups throughout the state including Hudson Riverkeeper, Waterkeeper Alliance, Soundkeeper, Save the Sound, Peconic Baykeeper, NY/NJ Baykeeper and Hackensack Riverkeeper. The coalition of groups pledges to maintain pressure on DEC to ensure a prompt response to the court ruling, including correction of the defects in the permit, to set the state on the right path to reducing stormwater pollution.
“Stormwater runoff is the largest contributor of pathogens to Long Island’s Peconic Estuary,” stated Kevin McAllister, President and Peconic Baykeeper. “Sadly, contaminated shellfish beds and beach closures have become a common occurrence. Municipalities in my region have been slow to implement corrective actions and it’s because the DEC has implied that the MS4 permit requirements are voluntary. We’re all very pleased that New York’s Supreme Court recognized the substance of our claims and has ordered the DEC to get on-board and enforce the law.”
“We are pleased that the Court agreed with us that DEC is responsible, under both state and federal law, for ensuring that stormwater pollution is reduced to the maximum extent possible. DEC is now required to correct fatal flaws in its plan to clean up stormwater runoff, one of the biggest sources of pollution in our waterways,” said Paul Gallay, President and Hudson Riverkeeper. “The stakes couldn’t be higher, as stormwater runoff threatens our water quality and negatively impacts our economy and the ecosystems of our waterways. We will continue to work with our partner groups to make certain that DEC implements the court’s ruling and makes the changes necessary to enable us to protect our waters.”
After it rains, pollution from developed areas is channeled through municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s) directly into local waterways, without any treatment. The so-called “MS4 General Permit” at issue in the court case regulates stormwater runoff that flows into, and out of, these sewer systems, in hundreds of municipalities across the state. Stormwater runoff contributes to pollution so severe that it prevents the safe use of public waters for fishing, swimming, drinking, shellfish harvesting, or other recreational and ecological uses.
Link to Court Ruling: http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/344/832/603022/
Water Purity Problems in Upstate New York
ALBANY, N.Y. — A county executive in the Catskills says New York City is acting like an “occupying nation” in communities within its upstate watershed, polluting waterways, flooding homes and paying too little in taxes as it maintains the purity of its water supply.
Ulster County Executive Michael Hein sent a letter Monday to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, inviting him to tour the county and see problems he believes are caused or worsened by the city’s Department of Environmental Protection in its role as caretaker of the network of stream-fed upstate reservoirs that supply the city’s drinking water.
“The NYC DEP is presently operating much like an occupying nation within our county, extracting the natural resource of clean water while simultaneously polluting our waterways and causing massive regional economic hardships,” Hein wrote.
“It’s really a David and Goliath scenario,” Hein said in a phone interview Monday afternoon. “First of all, they’re not paying their fair share of taxes, which pushes the burden off on local residents.”
Hein also accuses the DEP of foot-dragging for years on problems in the small community of Wawarsing, where a number of homeowners have suffered health problems from mold caused by repeated basement flooding from a leaking underground aqueduct carrying water to the city.
A third major issue is the lower Esopus Creek, which has looked like mud for nearly a year as the DEP has diverted turbid water away from its Ashokan Reservoir to ensure the clarity of water going to the city.
“Farmers can’t use water they’ve used for generations to irrigate their crops,” Hein said. “We can’t allow a beach to be opened. The Esopus is one of the best trout streams in the nation, and we’re concerned there’s not a trout left alive in it.”
Rancor between the upstate watershed communities and the city’s water supply agency has simmered for decades, but the pollution of the Esopus has brought it to a boiling point in recent years
In January 2010, in response to citizen complaints about the silt-filled water, Hein filed a notice of intent to sue DEP under the federal Clean Water Act. In response, DEP pledged to work with local officials and residents to come up with solutions, and to take steps to prevent muddy releases in the future.
The environmental group Riverkeeper said last month that none of the DEP’s commitments have been honored. Ulster County and Riverkeeper have petitioned the state Department of Environmental Conservation to require DEP to get a permit that would limit muddy releases from the Ashokan to the lower Esopus.
Bloomberg’s office deferred comment on Hein’s letter to DEP spokesman Farrell Sklerov, who said the watershed agency is actually an economic engine, “investing $1.5 billion over the past two decades in watershed protection efforts that support sustainable economic development with good jobs for local communities.”
The city pays more than $130 million per year in direct tax revenue to watershed communities, and it employs more than 1,000 upstate residents, Sklerov said.
The upstate reservoir system provides a billion gallons of water a day to 9 million people, including a million upstate residents in Ulster and other counties.
—Copyright 2012 Associated Press
State of Long Island Sound Said To Be Grim
Stewardship efforts received a barely-passing grade in a new report.
The environmental future of Long Island Sound may be in jeopardy, a new study issued by the stewardship organization Save the Sound reports.
In the 2011 State of the Sound, available for download here, Connecticut and New York received a grade of C+ for their combined stewardship efforts over the past year.
Writing in the introduction to the report, author Tom Andersen notes:
“Long Island Sound exists now in a state of permanent crisis. Lobsters have all but vanished. Oysters, carefully restored with infusions of money from taxpayers and the private sector, succumbed to two diseases and are only now starting to revive. Winter flounder disappeared. The water on average has gotten warmer; warm-water species are replacing coldwater species. Salt marshes are dying. And hypoxia returns every summer — sometimes bad, sometimes not so bad, sometimes critically bad.”
The State of the Sound grades the welfare of the estuary according to eight significant indicators. In five of those categories — low oxygen, raw sewage, stormwater runoff, toxic chemicals, and stewardship — marks fell to C and below.
Not all news from the report is terrible, however. In the categories of coastal habitat, beach litter, and migratory habitat, the State of the Sound doled out grades of A, B+, and A-, respectively.
So how can we improve this endangered area? The report provides five steps for raising the grade.
- Fully fund Long Island Sound federal programs like the Long Island Sound Restoration Act and the Stewardship Initiative to provide New York and Connecticut with strong support for clean water projects and climate change efforts and to save and restore the Sound’s last great coastal space.
- Control stormwater runoff through riverfront protection legislation, facilitating the creation of regional stormwater associations, promoting low impact development,green infrastructure and best management practices and providing low-interest loans for capital improvements.
- Leverage federal stewardship funding by creating a dedicated state Long Island Sound Stewardship Matching Fund that will preserve and restore the region’s last great coastal spaces.
- Address expected impacts of global warming by incorporating sea level rise adaptation strategies into coastal infrastructure planning and beach protection.
- Create options that ensure a conservation sale of Plum Island to provide wildlife habitat and opportunities for enhanced public access.
- By Ben Lasman
Water Contamination Nassau Long Island NY
The Water Authority of Western Nassau County (WAWNC) has issued a drinking water warning for parts of western Nassau County following the discovery of E. coli and Total Coli form bacteria in certain samples tested on July 18th and 19th. These bacteria are especially dangerous to infants, young children, the elderly, and those with compromised or weakened immune systems. Until further notice, residents are urged to use boiled or bottled water for drinking, brushing teeth, making ice, washing dishes and utensils, and cooking or food preparation.
Although only one of eleven samples tested positive for the bacteria, the warning is a mandatory response due to the effects such bacteria may have on Long Islanders. It can cause nausea, cramps, diarrhea, headaches, and other symptoms and can be very serious, even life-threatening, if left unattended. The presence of the bacteria in the water sample suggests that either there was a break in the pipes or a problem in the water treatment process, allowing the water to be contaminated by human or animal wastes.
WAWNC advises extreme caution while using water until the warning has been lifted. Bring water to a boil and continue boiling for at least a minute before allowing it to cool for use. This includes water you may use to mix baby formula, wash and/or boil baby bottles, and cleanse or disinfect any other items a baby may put in his/her mouth. Remember kids use more than just their pacifiers to suck on or bite, so use boiled water for everything of your child’s that requires washing to be on the safe side.
Rising levels of radioactive liquid slow clean-up effort at Fukushima Power Plant
Read this following article found in Nature News to get the most up-to-date information about the water contamination efforts at the Japanese Power Plant.
In the first hours of March’s accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, workers rushed to flood three damaged reactors with sea water to prevent a catastrophic meltdown. Three months later, water is still being pumped into the cores and has become the biggest obstacle to cleaning up the site.
Buildings there are deep in radioactive water, slowing work to a crawl. Storage tanks are rapidly reaching capacity and, if the trend continues, drainage trenches will start overflowing as early as 20 June, according to a report last week from the plant’s operator, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO).
TEPCO plans to install a decontamination system, which it hopes will remove radioisotopes from the water so that it can be reused to cool the reactors. The system should slow the consumption of water and reduce the danger posed by the wastewater. But even when the system is up and running — expected to be on 15 June — it will generate large amounts of radioactive waste, leading some critics to question whether it is the best solution.
Residual nuclear decay in the three reactors — which all suffered total meltdowns — means that they will need cooling for many months to come. TEPCO switched to using fresh water two weeks after the accident, because the salty sea water they had been using was extremely corrosive to the stainless-steel reactor vessels. The water in the reactors remains salty, even though several thousand litres of fresh water are being poured into the reactors every hour.
More than 100,000 tonnes of water are now swilling around various parts of the site. In early April, TEPCO was forced to dump more than 10,000 tonnes of low-level contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean, and it has since admitted that several hundred tonnes of highly contaminated water also leaked out, exposing marine life to large doses of radiation. TEPCO says it has now stemmed those leaks.
Rather than simply pouring ever more water into the hot reactors, TEPCO had planned to establish a closed-loop cooling system that would recirculate water through the cores. But extensive damage to the reactors has made that impossible.
Under a revised plan posted on the company’s website on 17 May, the reactors will continue to be filled with a steady flow of fresh water, which will then be pumped out of the basements of the reactor buildings, decontaminated and circulated through the cores again. TEPCO estimates that it will need to decontaminate some 250,000 tonnes of water by mid-January 2012, when it hopes the reactors will finally be cool enough to shut down permanently. But the system will be far less efficient than the original plan, and will ultimately increase the amount of waste to be handled.
The decontamination system is being built by Paris-based nuclear manufacturer Areva and nuclear-remediation company Kurion, headquartered in Irvine, California. The water will pass through Kurion’s filters, which contain a zeolite mineral — an extremely porous aluminosilicate that loosely binds metal ions. Through a combination of adsorption and ion exchange, the filters will trap the radioactive elements strontium-90, caesium-134 and caesium-137, reducing their concentration in the water by a thousand times.
Areva’s process will then take over. The water will pass into a series of tanks, where it will mix with reagents such as nickel ferrocyanide and barium sulphate, along with polymers and sand. The dissolved radioactive metals will form precipitates and colloids, which can be trapped as a radioactive sludge, allowing the water to be desalinated and fed back into the reactors. The two processes should reduce the concentration of caesium — the major element of concern from the reactors — in the water by up to a million times. TEPCO estimates that the process will cost ¥53.1 billion (US$660 million). Areva says it has successfully tested its system with sea water containing radioisotopes and borates — a simulation of the chemical brew in the reactors, where boric acid was added to halt nuclear reactions.
But some experts in Japan have expressed reservations about the decontamination process. Radioactive water will continue to flow from the cores into basements and trenches, and damage to the site means there will probably be further leaks. Ming Zhang, who studies environmental pollution risks at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Tsukuba, fears that contaminated water will end up in the ocean.
Kenji Takeshita, a specialist in water treatment at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, says that although a zeolite filtration system worked at Three Mile Island, the water pumped through it was fresh. “This time the water is full of salt,” he says. The chemical similarity between sodium and caesium ions may make the zeolite extraction process far less efficient, he says.
Areva’s system will also generate up to 2,000 cubic metres of hot, radioactive sludge by next January. Compared with solid waste, which can be encased in cement for long-term storage, the sludge will need more elaborate containment to prevent it from leaking out into the environment. TEPCO says that the Areva system was added to “ensure the success of the extraction system”, and is now drafting plans for dealing with the zeolite and sludge waste.
Even when the water is dealt with, Japan will face a bigger contamination problem. Radioactive soil has been removed from around schools and other institutions near Fukushima, but it currently sits in large mounds or has been buried at shallow depths. Chihiro Inoue, an expert in soil and groundwater remediation at Tohoku University, estimates that hundreds of thousands of tonnes of radioactive soil will have to be dealt with. “They’re not even thinking about what to do with that yet,” he says.
Public Meeting at Rutgers University to Discuss Polluted Ground Water in NJ
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Friday a proposed plan to remediate soil at the Puchack Well Field Superfund site in Pennsauken Township, New Jersey that is contaminated with hexavalent chromium and is contributing to the pollution of ground water underlying the site. The 450,000-square-foot site contains six public drinking water supply wells that have been taken out of use to protect people’s health. Area residents have been connected to a municipal water supply that provides a safe source of drinking water. Hexavalent chromium is extremely toxic. It can cause cancer and can have other serious health impacts, including nervous system damage.
Because of the nature and complexity of the contamination at the site, EPA divided the investigation and cleanup into two phases. The plan announced Friday was the second of the two phases of the cleanup. EPA will hold a public meeting to explain the proposed plan for the second phase and receive comments on June 21, 2011.
“Clean drinking water is a top priority for EPA. By reducing the amount of chromium in the soil, EPA is protecting people’s health by keeping the contaminated soil from polluting ground water,” said EPA Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck. “The cleanup plan advances the essential work at the Puchack Well Field site, and EPA encourages public input on the proposed plan.”
Ground water contamination was first detected at a limited number of wells at the Puchack Well Field in the 1970s. Subsequent testing in the early 1980s found contamination in additional wells. By 1984, the well field was no longer used as a source of drinking water. EPA added the Puchack Well Field to the federal Superfund list in 1998. Sampling indicates that no currently operating municipal wells are being impacted by the contaminated ground water. EPA has worked with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the United States Geological Survey on this site.
The first phase of the cleanup is addressing the investigation and cleanup of the chromium contaminated ground water. Later this fall, as part of the continuing first phase of the cleanup, EPA will begin treating the contaminated ground water using lactate, a non-hazardous additive that will reduce the contamination. The treatment with lactate was selected after the EPA conducted a pilot study to test its effectiveness.
The second phase of the cleanup calls for the investigation and cleanup of the contaminated soil that is contributing to the hexavalent chromium ground water contamination. Consistent with the first phase, EPA is proposing to mix the soil with a nontoxic material that will convert the highly toxic hexavalent form of chromium into the far less toxic form of chromium called trivalent chromium. This approach will reduce the levels of hexavalent chromium in the soil to prevent recontamination of the ground water. EPA will conduct a study to determine the type and quantity of the chemical agent to be used. Structures on the site will be demolished to provide access to the contaminated soil. After the treatment, soil samples will be collected and studied to confirm that the treatment was effective. Additionally, the ground water will be monitored to ensure that the soil is no longer a source of contamination.
EPA is requesting public comments on the proposed plan for the second phase of the cleanup and will hold a public meeting on June 21, 2011 at 7:00 pm, Rutgers University Camden Campus, Fine Arts Building, 314 Linden St, Room 110, Camden, New Jersey. Comments will be accepted until July 13, 2011.
A Call for Cleaner Water in Suffolk County, NY
Advocates: Preserve Suffolk water quality
Environmentalists gather in Yaphank on June 6th to call for stricter regulation of septic systems and tougher enforcement of existing water pollution laws.
Water quality in Suffolk is on an “alarming” downhill slide, and a sweeping county report being prepared on how to manage the drinking water supply offers few concrete solutions to halt the decline, environmental advocates said Monday.
While public water remains safe and is routinely tested for a range of contaminants, the source of the supply — groundwater pumped from underground aquifers — is increasingly fouled by nitrogen and other pollutants, according to a draft water management plan that Suffolk health officials released late last year.
“At this rate, by 2050 we’re in a serious problem here,” Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment, said at a news conference Monday overlooking the Carmans River in Yaphank. “The systematic development of the land surface is causing the degredation of the water supply.”
Suffolk officials defended the report, which should be finalized late this year or early next year. They said efforts were already under way to protect local groundwater, including studies on whether to install sewers in more than 20 areas around the county. About three-quarters of Suffolk relies on cesspools and septic systems, which discharge nitrogen to groundwater.
The county report recommended more groundwater monitoring, and said the county should put a priority on open space preservation near drinking water wells and limit housing density in ecologically sensitive areas without sewers. Public comment on the draft ended earlier this month.
“The plan does a very good job to keep the public drinking water supply safe,” said Walter Dawydiak, chief engineer for the health department.
But Esposito and other conservation advocates said regulators must take bolder steps to limit pollution from septic systems, pesticides and fertilizer use before it’s too late.
Among the changes they’d like to see: scaled-back agricultural use of pesticides and fertilizer, and revisions to the Suffolk sanitary code to address pollution from aging cesspools.
Advocates also called for hearings on the decline in water quality. They said more must be done to protect sensitive bays and estuaries from nitrogen, which can wreak havoc in local ecosystems even at levels permitted by state drinking water standards.
Dawydiak said Suffolk was in the midst of evaluating advanced septic technologies that could reduce nitrogen pollution by up to 80 percent. “We’re going to run scenarios, like how much would it cost to put them in areas of the Peconic Bay estuary.”
Don’t just wonder about the quality of your drinking water, have your water tested for water contamination today. Its important to make sure your drinking water is safe for you and your family. Long Island Clean Water Service, Inc. offers water contamination testing, water purification services and water filtration systems throughout Long Island and New York City. Call for a free estimate today at (877) 565-7873.
Officials probe Yaphank radioactivity
Read the following article found on newsday.com to learn about the findings of radioactive groundwater in Yaphank, NY.
Officials are investigating contaminated groundwater in Yaphank where tests last year showed unusual levels of radioactivity in a plume thought to originate at a large compost transfer station.
The pollution was first discovered in 2009, when it hit a private well at a home on Horseblock Road southeast of Long Island Compost’s Great Gardens compost facility.
Some say agencies should have moved more quickly to identify the source of the radioactivity. Officials do not yet know whether it is man-made, or whether it stems from the compost itself, which is made elsewhere and taken there to be cured and bagged.
“Is is the result of natural processes? We need to nail that down,” said Peter Scully, regional director of the state Department of Environmental Conservation, which leads the investigation. “This is very unique . . . even if it is very, very low.”
Long Island Compost president and chief executive Charles Vigliotti said in a statement the company would “sit down with the DEC and review the findings. If a problem is found to exist, we will take whatever steps are necessary to remediate the situation.”
Radiation can occur naturally in rocks, soil and water. But detections in groundwater are quite rare on Long Island, according to a Suffolk health department review of historic water-testing data.
The plume also contains levels of manganese — a naturally occurring element that can affect the nervous system at high doses — that far exceed state drinking-water standards.
Over the next week, state environmental and health officials will collect soil and groundwater samples from the facility and nearby area. The samples will be sent to a state lab to determine the source, type and quantity of the radioactive materials present.
“Based on our current analysis, there is not an immediate health risk,” said state health department spokesman Jeffrey Hammond.
Critics say local and state agencies have been slow to address the contamination. While Suffolk health officials advised resident Larry Horton last March not to drink water from his well, the home was only connected to public water a few months ago, according to his wife, Donna Horton.
Last July, a Suffolk health department memo recommended a comprehensive investigation into the plume, citing “severely degraded water quality” and the risk of contamination to other private wells and the nearby Carmans River. But little further action appears to have been taken until last month, when state and county officials formed a task force after environmental advocate Adrienne Esposito requested related documents.
“We’ve had the data for over a year now,” said Esposito, executive director of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment in Farmingdale. “Our agencies need to aggressively move to find the source of the problem.”
The July memo identified the source of the plume as a large compost pile at the southeast corner of the Great Gardens transfer station. It said 2010 tests of soil and groundwater in and around the facility detected particle activity that indicates the breakdown of radioactive elements.
“There was definitely a need for more testing there,” said Martin Trent, former chief of the Suffolk health department’s office of ecology, who retired in August. He said staff reductions may have contributed to the delay.
Suffolk health department spokeswoman Grace Kelly-McGovern said the July memo was a “preliminary report that required further review and investigatory steps.”
If your unsure about the quality of your drinking water, call Long Island Clean Water Service and schedule a free consultation today at (877) 565-7873. Long Island Clean Water Service, Inc. specializes in water contamination testing, water purification services as well as water filtration systems.
More Bad News about Fracking…
Tainted Drinking Water Found Near Gas Wells
A new study from Duke University found potentially toxic levels of methane in drinking water near natural gas wells — levels so high they create the risk of explosion.
The study said about half of the 68 drinking water wells tested in Pennsylvania and New York located within a half a mile from natural gas wells had high levels of methane — the prime ingredient in natural gas fuel.
“We found concentration levels where you have to worry about explosions,” said Robert Jackson, an environmental sciences professor at Duke and one of the study’s authors.
The gas, which is usually located thousands of feet below the water table, appears to be entering the water wells either through cracks in the bedrock or, more likely, the casing in natural gas wells, said Jackson. Casings are steel and concrete barriers natural gas companies use to line a well where it passes through the water table.
Jackson suspects hydraulic fracturing may be to blame. The process, known as fracking for short, uses vast amounts of chemically-laced water, sand and pressure to crack the shale rock and release the gas.
The combination of expensive energy prices and new drilling technology has unleashed huge amounts of cleaner-burning natural gas in America, and created thousands of well-paying jobs.
But it’s also raised fears over water contamination, especially in the Northeast’s Marcellus Shale, a rock formation containing natural gas that stretches from New York to Georgia.
Some believe the frack chemicals could migrate up to the drinking water or enter it by an accident during the drilling process. There have also been instances where surface water has been contaminated by spills.
And while methane may not be harmful to drink, it has led to cases of exploding buildings and ignitable tap water.
Jackson thinks the sand and high pressure used in the fracking process may be weakening the well’s casing, allowing the gas to seep out. He noted that his team did not find any evidence of the fracking fluids themselves in any of the drinking water wells.
The gas industry criticized the study’s methodology, saying the well samples were not random and that no baseline data existed before the study.
“Once again, what you have here is a paper that draws pretty firm conclusions without much data at all to back any of them up,” Energy In Depth, a coalition of energy producers, said in a statement.
Jackson said the study was indeed not random, but that was because they needed homeowners permission to test their water.
The industry has previously said that many of these drinking water wells contained methane before natural gas drilling began, and that’s it generally not harmful or problematic.
Jackson said his study makes that argument “harder to believe.” He said many of the water wells that had very little methane weren’t near drill sites and sat atop vast gas deposits.
The Duke study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is one of the first peer-reviewed, scientific studies looking at shale gas extraction.
Another peer-reviewed study a few months back from Cornell Professor Robert Howarth was even more critical.
Howarth argued that natural gas is actually worse for the climate than coal because a lot of methane — a potent greenhouse gas — escapes from natural gas wells.
Natural gas supporters, including many environmentalists, said the Cornell study didn’t look at methane’s influence on climate far enough into the future and overestimated how much methane escapes.
So far, most environmentalists tend to follow the position of the International Energy Agency’s chief economist Fatih Birol: That shale gas development and fracking should continue, albeit with tighter regulations, because making that process safer “is far easier than dealing with climate change.”