The public comment period for a 1,000-page study of the effects of hydraulic fracturing — known as “fracking” — on drinking water is open through Aug. 28. 

The Environmental Protection Agency study concludes that fracking can affect drinking water, through either above-ground mechanisms such as spills and inadequate treatment of waste, or below-ground mechanisms such as substances moving into drinking water through the production well. However, the number of cases when fracking impacted water resources is small relative to the number of the fracked wells, the study concludes. That could be because it’s rare for fracking to affect water or due to other factors, such as insufficient pre- and post-fracking water quality data. 

“We did not find evidence that these mechanisms have led to widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water resources in the United States,” the report says. 

Frack Free N.C., a group opposed to hydraulic fracturing, takes issue with that conclusion. 

“There is far too little known by EPA and scientists to say that there aren’t ‘widespread, systemic impacts,’” the group said in a press release. 

The report is online at cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/hfstudy/recordisplay.cfm?deid=244651. 

Comments can be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with Docket number EPA-HQ-OA-2015-0245” in the subject line. The deadline is Aug. 28.