One victory for fracking

The American Association for the Advancement of Science has found in a major review of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas that there is no direct evidence the practice is contaminating groundwater.

In a report in Science magazine, the contamination process from fracking, the practice of pumping fluids into tight shale formations to release natural gas, is blamed on poorly lined wells or storage ponds. These problems occur closer to the surface, not underground.

However, there are other implications from the process. "The review acknowledges that gaps remain in understanding fracking, including whether pumping wastewater into the ground causes small earthquakes," the Science article stated. "In addition, the cumulative and long-term impacts of the technique remain unclear, especially in areas were some gas naturally escapes from below ground."

The report will not quiet those opposed to the controversial practice. But it does put another perspective on the drilling.