Groundwater is safe in potential N.Y. fracking area

Two Cornell hydrologists have completed a thorough groundwater examination of drinking water in a potential hydraulic fracturing area in New York's Southern Tier. They determined that drinking water in potable wells near conventional natural gas wells in Chenango County is safe to drink and within federal guidelines. The researchers report their findings in July's Journal of Hydrology - Regional Studies. "In Pennsylvania, reports of natural gas in the groundwater started to occur after the state began to allow hydraulic fracturing. Nobody had thought to test the well water there beforehand, and no one had a sense of the water quality prior to fracking. We've conducted a comprehensive baseline study of the water," said Todd Walter, associate professor of biological and environmental engineering, the paper's senior author. "We're verifying that the water quality here [in the Southern Tier] is pretty good," said lead author Lauren McPhillips, doctoral candidate in the field of biological and environmental engineering.