03 Oct New Study Finds High Levels of Radioactivity, Salts, and Metals Even After Fracking Wastewater is “Treated”

October 3, 2013 –

A new academic study released this week found alarming results of water impacts near a Pennsylvania fracking wastewater treatment plant. NBC News reported on the findings:

In a study published Wednesday in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, researchers found high levels of radioactivity, salts and metals in the water and sediments downstream from a fracking wastewater plant on Blacklick Creek in western Pennsylvania.

Among the most alarming findings was that downstream river sediments contain 200 times more radium than mud that’s naturally present upstream of the plant, said Avner Vengosh, a co-author of the study and a professor of geochemistry and water quality at Duke University. Radium is a radioactive metal naturally found in many rocks; long-term exposure to large amounts of radium can cause adverse health effects and even diseases such as leukemia.

Click here to read more about the study.