Frackenwater in PA

Yes, we have "frankenfoods", and your accompanying beverage will be "frackenwater".  A study of groundwater samples from the Marcellus shale basin where fracking operations are underway--enhanced gas recovery using hydraulic fluids--in Pennsylvania concludes that salty mineral laden fluids from deep below are seeping upward into drinking water aquifers. Although the brine was not contaminated by drilling fluids, the finding is important because it contradicts the repeated assertion by fracking supporters that the toxic drilling fluids used to force gas into well bores will be sealed beneath deep layers of impermeable rock. The authors presented geo-chemical evidence of pathways between shallow water aquifers and deep brine formations in the Alluvium, Catskill and Lock Haven aquifers in northeastern Pennsylvania. The study is based on 426 samples of saline groundwater. (Cl>20mg/L). This is the second scientific finding that the shale formation could physically allow the migration of toxic drilling fluids into drinking water supplies.  The recent study was criticized by a reviewers on the National Academy of Sciences because the authors did not draw any conclusions about the time frame involved for the migration while implicating fracking operations. A reviewer called the study, "unwittingly written to inflame the anti-drilling crowd." Sounds like a statement from a drilling advocate to US Person. Nevertheless, the study found one out of six samples contained brine nearly identical to brine originating from the Marcellus shale layer. More research into the brine migration is being undertaken.