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EPA Science Advisors Balk at Fracking Study

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  • 5-year study found no 'widespread, systemic' impacts on water
  • Scientific review board repudiates study's major conclusion
Water flowing from a man's well ignites when he puts a flame to the spigot outside his family's home in rural Parker County near Weatherford, Texas, on Nov. 27, 2012.

Water flowing from a man's well ignites when he puts a flame to the spigot outside his family's home in rural Parker County near Weatherford, Texas, on Nov. 27, 2012.

 Photographer: LM Otero/AP

A landmark study by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that concluded fracking causes no widespread harm to drinking water is coming under fire -- this time, from the agency’s own science advisers.

The EPA’s major finding in June’s preliminary report, that there’s no evidence fracking has led to "widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water," was seen as a vindication of hydraulic fracturing. A repudiation of the results could reignite the debate over the need for more regulation.