Methane contamination of drinking water accompanying gas-well drilling and hydraulic fracturing
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08/05/2011
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Directional drilling and hydraulic-fracturing technologies are dramatically increasing natural-gas extraction. In aquifers overlying the Marcellus and Utica shale formations of northeastern Pennsylvania and upstate New York, we document systematic evidence for methane contamination of drinking water associated with shale-gas extraction.