The New York Times
Toxic Contamination From Natural Gas Wells
The New York Times collected data from more than 200 natural gas wells in Pennsylvania. Many of them are tapping
into the Marcellus Shale, a vast underground rock formation. But a method being used to stimulate wells, called
hydraulic fracturing, produces wastewater containing corrosive salts and radioactive and carcinogenic materials. In
Pennsylvania, this wastewater has been sent through sewage treatment plants that cannot remove some of the
contaminants before the water is discharged into rivers and streams that provide drinking water. The Times was
able to map 149 of the wells.
View Map of Contaminated wells Published: February 26, 2011

Regulation Lax as Gas Wells’ Tainted Water Hits Rivers Published: February 26, 2011
In other words, there is no way of guaranteeing that the drinking water taken in by all these plants is safe.

Pressure Grows for Answers on Fracking Published: March 2, 2011, 8:27 pm
“Americans should not have to consume radioactive materials from their drinking water as a byproduct of natural gas production,”

Pressure Limits Efforts to Police Drilling for Gas Published: March 3, 2011
“It was like the science didn’t matter,” Carla Greathouse, the author of the study, said in a recent interview. “The industry was
going to get what it wanted, and we were not supposed to stand in the way.”

E.P.A. Steps Up Scrutiny of Pollution in Pennsylvania Rivers Published: March 7, 2011
It also said that all permits issued by the state to treatment plants handling this waste should be reviewed to ensure that
operators were complying with the law.

Articles in the Drilling Down series from The New York Times examine the risks of natural-gas drilling and efforts to
regulate this rapidly growing industry.
Drilling Down

Documents: Politics, Recycling and Tracking of Natural Gas Waste

Documents: The Debate Over the Hydrofracking Study’s Scope

This spreadsheet shows levels of contaminants in samples from more than 200 wells, disclosed in documents
reviewed by The Times. "Gross alpha" is a form of radioactivity. Radium and uranium are elements that give off
alpha radioactivity. Benzene is a carcinogenic chemical. Solid samples listed in this spreadsheet may be from
different types of waste. They include samples taken at wastewater storage pits and "drill
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/other/national/natural-gas-drilling-spreadsheet.xls


PENNLIVE.COM
3/9/2011 - Published: Tuesday, March 08, 2011, 11:13 AM
The EPA says it wants Pennsylvania’s drinking water utilities to start sampling immediately for radium, a radioactive
substance sometimes found in drilling water prior to treatment.
The Environmental Protection Agency has asked Pennsylvania regulators to increase monitoring of wastewater
discharges from the state’s booming natural gas drilling industry.
Carroll Citizens for Sensible Growth
Northern York County, Pennsylvania
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Pennsylvania allows gas-well wastewater to flow into rivers
At least 3.6 million barrels of the waste were sent to treatment plants that empty into rivers during the
12 months ending June 30, according to state records. That is enough to cover a square mile with
more than 8½ inches of brine.
PennLive.com
GASLAND Trailer 2010
The largest domestic natural gas drilling boom in history has swept
across the United States.
The Halliburton-developed drilling technology of “fracking” or
hydraulic fracturing has unlocked a “Saudia Arabia of natural gas”
just beneath us. But is fracking safe?
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CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Wyoming, famous for its crisp mountain air and
breathtaking, far-as-the-eye-can-see vistas, is looking a little bit like
smoggy Los Angeles these days because of a boom in natural gas
drilling.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110308/ap_on_he_me/us_wyoming_smog
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