New Arkansas Study Finds Fracking Does NOT Affect Streams

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We caught sight of an interesting new study just published in the journal BMC Microbiology by researchers at the University of Arkansas/Fayetteville. Researchers studied (did in the field studies) of streams both near and far from fracking activities in the Arkansas Fayetteville Shale. No, the research is not directly about the Marcellus/Utica, although our shale plays are mentioned several times in the study. However, the research and its results apply to our region as well as all shale plays. In the study just published titled, "Do biofilm communities respond to the chemical signatures of fracking? A test involving streams in North-central Arkansas" (full copy below), researchers looked to see if the chemistry of streams was altered by nearby fracking activity. They evaluated "benthic biofilm community composition as a proxy for stream chemistry" to see if bacteria and other tiny critters that show up under a microscope display differences between the streams near fracking, and those not near fracking activity. What did they find? No difference. No change. No impacts from fracking on streams and the microbiology of those streams. What they did find is that streams are affected by agriculture and urbanization...

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