It's not fracking's fault, study says Men with Cabot Oil and Gas work on a natural gas valve at a hydraulic fracturing site in South Montrose, Penn. Hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, stimulates gas production by injecting wells with high volumes of chemical-laced water in order to free up pockets of natural gas below. A university study asserts that the problems caused by the gas extraction process known as hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," arise because drilling operations aren't doing it right. The process itself isn't to blame, according to the study, released today by the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin. The report is likely to add new fuel to a blazing controversy over fracking. Researchers reviewed the evidence contained in the reports of groundwater contamination from three prominent shale-rock formations where the process is employed: the Barnett Shale in North Texas, the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania, New York and other areas of Appalachia; and the Haynesville Shale in western Louisiana and northeast Texas. The groundwater contamination is graphically portrayed in the documentary "Gasland," which showed residents near shale-gas operations setting their drinking water on fire as it came out of the tap. Worries about such contamination have sparked political resistance to fracking, leading some states and countries to hold up new drilling operations. At the same time, shale gas is seen as an increasingly important domestic energy source. In his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama suggested that the natural gas industry could support 600,000 jobs in America by the end of the decade, in large part due to the rise of hydraulic fracturing. The White House is proposing new studies by the Environmental Protection Agency to ensure that fracking is done safely. "It's a game-changer in terms of the energy balance," study leader Chip Groat, associate director of the Energy Institute, told journalists today. He and other scientists discussed the report today in Vancouver, Canada, at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Hydraulic fracturing involves drilling deep into shale beds, then injecting water, sand and chemicals under high pressure to shatter layers of rock - liberating trapped pockets of natural gas. The gas is captured for energy use, but the water and other byproducts have to be cleaned up. The procedure has been used since the 1950s, but it's become far more widely applied in recent years due to advances in horizontal-drilling technologies. The researchers concluded that many of the reports of contamination can be traced to above-ground spills or other mishandling of the wastewater, Groat said. Other causes of the contamination include underground casing failures or poor cement jobs. "These problems are not unique to hydraulic fracturing," Groat said in a news release. In the reports reviewed by the researchers, "we found no direct evidence that hydraulic fracturing itself ... was a cause for concern," he told journalists at the AAAS meeting. He acknowledged, however, that shale gas development "can be bungled" due to problems with drilling and extraction techniques used closer to the surface. Such problems are most likely behind the water-on-fire phenomena documented in "Gasland," he said. Today's release of the final report follows up on a preliminary version that was issued last fall. In addition to discussing the causes of contamination, the report evaluated the ability of states to enforce existing regulations, and analyzed the public perceptions surrounding fracking. Among the other findings: Natural gas found in water wells within some shale gas areas, such as the Marcellus Shale, can be traced to natural sources. The report said the gas was probably present before the onset of shale gas operations. Some states have actively addressed the regulatory issues surrounding shale gas, but most regulations were written before the process became widespread. Regulations may need to updated to reflect new situations, but "there isn't the need for new regulatory frameworks," Groat said. News coverage of the controversy has been "decidedly negative," and few media reports mention the scientific research related to the process. Surface spills of the fluids used in the fracking process were judged to pose a greater risk to groundwater sources than the fracking itself. The lack of baseline studies in shale gas areas makes it difficult to assess the long-term, cumulative effects and risks associated with fracking. The Energy Institute said its report was conducted using general university funds, rather than specific grants from energy-industry companies. Among the groups listed as contributing expertise to the study is the Environmental Defense Fund, which assisted in developing the scope of work and the methodology for the study. The Environmental Defense Fund was drafting a statement reacting to today's release of the study, a spokesman told me. Groat said further studies will be conducted into the atmospheric and seismic impact of hydraulic fracturing - two significant environmental issues that were not addressed in detail in the newly issued report. The Energy Institute also plans to conduct a detailed case study on groundwater contamination in Texas' Barnett Shale, as well as a field investigation into the effects of shale gas drilling on the water above and below fracturing sites in the Barnett Shale. "Certainly more work needs to be done," Groat said.