This is a cross-post of a recent piece on the Well Said Cabot blog that takes a closer look at assertions by researchers at Duke University. Cabot posted the below to lay out the facts and encourage a conversation based on science.

Bloomberg published this piece, Cabot’s Methodology Links Tainted Water Wells to Gas Fracking, drawing upon conclusions from professors at Duke University and asserted that natural gas from Marcellus shale is leaking into domestic water wells in Dimock. Bloomberg even goes as far as to say:

[i]Methane in two Pennsylvania water wells has a chemical fingerprint that links it to natural gas produced by hydraulic fracturing.[/i]

After a careful review by independent geologists, it is clear Duke’s findings are NOT based on any new research or any comprehensive investigation. Instead, the professors plotted the isotopic signature of methane from data released six months ago by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – the same data the EPA used to determine that water in Dimock meets Safe Water Drinking standards – onto a graph then drew conclusions from it without properly considering the science required to identify the origin of natural gas.

http://eidmarcellus.org/marcellus-shale/cabot-says-dukes-methane-co...