PITTSBURGH (AP) - A new Department of Energy study may provide
some of the first solid answers to an extremely controversial
question: Do gas drilling fluids migrate and pose a threat to
drinking water? Department spokesman Richard Hammack says a gas
drilling company in southwestern Pennsylvania has let
researchers add tracing compounds to the fluids used in
hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. The well is tapping the gas-
rich Marcellus Shale. Hammack says researchers will be able to
see if the drilling fluids move upward or sideways from the well
bottom, which is 8,100 feet deep. Environmentalists say the
fluids associated with drilling can rise and pollute shallow
drinking water aquifers. The industry and many state and federal
officials say the practice is safe when done properly, but there
have also been cases where faulty wells did cause pollution.