Fracking is now leaving American rivers tainted with a toxic cocktail of Radium and Lead
by: David Gutierrez
NaturalNews.com
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Thousands of spills of fracking wastewater in North Dakota alone, have heavily contaminated rivers and streams with heavy metals, radioactive materials and toxic, corrosive salts, according to a peer-reviewed study conducted by researchers from Duke University, and published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.
“Until now, research in many regions of the nation has shown that contamination from fracking has been fairly sporadic and inconsistent,” researcher Professor Avner Vengosh said. “In North Dakota, however, we find it is widespread and persistent, with clear evidence of direct water contamination from fracking.”
Thousands of spills each year
Hydraulic fracturing, also known as “fracking,” consists of using water mixed with various chemical agents to fracture underground bedrock, thereby enabling drilling for oil and gas. But once the ground has been fractured, large volumes of water flow back to the surface, bringing along heavy metals and radioactive isotopes from deep underground. Disposing of this wastewater has been one of the industry’s greatest challenges.
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