Mark Drajem and Jim Snyder write:  Hydraulic fracturing has contaminated some drinking water sources but the damage is not widespread, according to a landmark U.S. study of water pollution risks that has supporters of the drilling method declaring victory and foes saying it revealed reason for concern.
The draft analysis by the Environmental Protection Agency, released after three years of study, looked at possible ways fracking could contaminate drinking water, from spills of fracking fluids to wastewater disposal.

“We conclude there are above and below ground mechanisms by which hydraulic fracturing activities have the potential to impact drinking water resources,” the EPA said in the report. But, “we did not find evidence that these mechanisms have led to widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water resources.”  The study was commissioned by Congress and represents the most comprehensive assessment yet of the safety of fracking.

Thomas Burke, the EPA’s top science adviser,said “the number of documented impacts on groundwater resources is relatively low.” Still, it’s not accurate to say that there have been no cases of contamination.

The American Petroleum Institute, an industry trade group, said the study was a validation of the safety of fracking. It said it showed existing oversight from state regulators is working..

“The process of fracking itself is one risk factor. But in fact it’s not the biggest one,” said Mark Brownstein, vice president of the Environmental Defense Fund. “Ongoing physical integrity of the wells and handling the millions of gallons of wastewater coming back to the surface after fracking, over the lifetime of each well, are even bigger challenges.”
Amy Mall, a senior policy analyst for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the study provides “solid science that fracking has contaminated drinking water across the country.”

Mall said, however, that a lack of cooperation from industry meant EPA lacked key data necessary to fully assess its safety.
Another environmental group, Earthworks, said EPA analysis points to the need for regulation.

The EPA said as many as 30,000 fracked wells were drilled annually between 2011 to 2014, as oil production reached its highest level in more than three decades.
“People in favor of drilling will see this as vindication,” said Rob Jackson, a Stanford University professor who has tested drinking water near fracking sites in Texas, Pennsylvania and other states. “People opposed to it will see this as a whitewash.”