The act of f racking is probably not contaminating US drinking water - the real problem is leaky wells drilled to bring the gas the surface. Or so new research suggests. Fracking uses pressurised fluid to crack shale rocks, releasing natural gas. Its opponents are concerned that this and other, more toxic pollutants might be seeping up from fracking sites far below ground and contaminating water supplies. They say methane and other hydrocarbons in drinking water wells nearf racking areas are a sign of this. Thomas Darrah of Ohio State University in Columbus and his team sampled drinking water wells in heavily f racked areas of Pennsylvania and Texas. Eight areas were becoming more contaminated with hydrocarbons.
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