28 Jun Peer-Reviewed Study Finds Contamination Near Drill Sites

June 25, 2013 –

“‘The bottom line is strong evidence for gas leaking into drinking water in some cases,’ Robert Jackson, an environmental scientist at Duke University in Durham, N.C., told NBC News. ‘We think the likeliest explanation is leaky wells,’ he added.”

The groundbreaking new study was released earlier this week by a research team at Duke.

More from NBC News:

“The new research builds on earlier work from Jackson and his colleagues that also found high concentrations of methane near natural gas wells. In this new study, Jackson’s team analyzed 141 drinking water samples from private wells across northeastern Pennsylvania.

In addition to the higher methane concentrations, the new study documented higher ethane and propane concentrations. Ethane concentrations were 23 times higher at homes within a kilometer of a shale gas well. Propane was detected in 10 samples, all from wells within one kilometer of drilling.

All the gases appear to be fossil in origin. ‘That is the point of the ethane and propane analyses in the paper,’ Jackson said. ‘Those are gases that are not generated by microbes’ that can live in the ground and affect well water.”

Peer-reviewed science has found methane, ethane, and propane – things you definitely don’t want –  in water wells as a result of oil and gas development under the ground.  Directly from the study‘s abstract:

“We analyzed 141 drinking water wells across the Appalachian Plateau’s physiographic province of northeastern Pennsylvania, examining natural gas concentrations and isotopic signatures with proximity to shale gas wells. Methane was detected in 82% of drinking water samples, with average concentrations six times higher for homes <1 km from natural gas wells.”

Click here to read the complete study.