NETL continues fracturing study; report due by yearend

A US Department of Energy study continues to monitor for any signs of groundwater contamination stemming from hydraulic fracturing on the Marcellus shale formation in Pennsylvania, but it’s too early to draw any conclusion, the National Energy Technology Laboratory said in a July 19 statement.

“We are still in the early stages of collecting, analyzing, and validating data from this site. While nothing of concern has been found thus far, the results are far too preliminary to make any firm claims,” NETL said. The statement came after some media outlets reported preliminary findings were available.

“We expect a final report on the results by the end of the calendar year.” NETL said.

NETL is the lead research and development office for DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy. Researchers based in Pittsburgh are monitoring a specific area after having injected fracturing fluids having indicators that they can track to determine if the fluids migrate to drinking water supplies.