A recent study by Duke University ties the proximity of natural gas wells to increased concentrations of methane-contaminated drinking water in New York and Pennsylvania.

The study found methane concentrations were up to 17-times higher, on average, in shallow wells from active drilling and extraction areas than in nonactive areas. In the area studies, at least 85 percent of the water wells tested contained at least some level of methane contamination.

The results strengthen a link between methane contamination and natural gas wells environmental groups have been presenting. However, industry representatives are contending the study has numerous errors, problems and inconsistencies.

One of the primary issues with the study is that it did not have a baseline measurement for comparison. The quality of the water prior to drilling was not known by researchers.

The researchers are also quick to point they did not link water contamination to the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing. The authors write that it was more likely a result of leaky well casings than contamination as a result of the fracturing process done deep under the Earth’s surface.

Though they did test for other concerns such as fracturing fluid or other brine associated with drilling, none was found.

Carol Warren, who lobbied on numerous occasions for stronger regulation of Marcellus shale drilling, acknowledged the limitations of the study but said the study was a “smoking gun” that tied the industry to a phenomenon they had previously claimed wasn’t possible.

“I think it immediately shows that the people who have been complaining of this kind of (methane) contamination did know what they were talking about,” Warren said. “Industry has denied and denied that the contamination was possible, but now this study has shown definite links — a smoking gun, so to speak. This is a welcome vindication for the people who have put up with so much distress.”

Warren said people have been complaining about the increased gas in their wells have been portrayed as “crackpots” and even “marginalized” by the industry. She said they are frequently labeled uneducated, nut cases or their stories and experiences are “roundly denied.”

“It's funny, but in the non-profit and religious circles where I work, people's experience is valued and considered real on-the-ground wisdom on a topic. We go out of our way to elicit people's stories, really listen, and acknowledge their experience as individually valid, even though people's experiences may be different,” Warren said. “Just because my experience is different than yours, it doesn't necessarily mean either of our interpretations is wrong.”

Researchers from Duke also wrote a policy guidance document recommending research into the medical effects of methane contamination in water. In it, the authors write that aside from “extreme cases of explosion, flammability and asphyxiation, methane is not typically viewed as a health hazard.”

“Based on public concerns about the consequences of methane in drinking water, and the lack of peer-reviewed research on its health effects, we recommend that an independent medical review be initiated to evaluate the health effects of methane in drinking water and households,” researchers wrote.

Warren said she has already seen people who say the drilling has made them sick. Further study of the medical effects of methane-contamination and other issues associated with drilling, she said, was a good first step.

“When more evidence comes in, I firmly believe the people's experience will once again be proven valid and they will be vindicated. But by then, many more will suffer,” Warren said. “Or industry could step up, stop the denials, and be pro-active in helping to find far less toxic solutions.”

— E-mail: tkuykendall@register-herald.com