5/3/2012: Study suggests frack fluids can migrate to aquifers

- A new study suggests fracking fluids could migrate to underground aquifers within years after drilling. From Abrahm Lustgarten at ProPublica:

Scientists have theorized that impermeable layers of rock would keep the fluid, which contains benzene and other dangerous chemicals, safely locked nearly a mile below water supplies. This view of the earth's underground geology is a cornerstone of the industry's argument that fracking poses minimal threats to the environment.

But the study, using computer modeling, concluded that natural faults and fractures in the Marcellus, exacerbated by the effects of fracking itself, could allow chemicals to reach the surface in as little as "just a few years."

- The fallout at Chesapeake over Aubrey McClendon's loan arrangements continued Wednesday, with stocks taking their biggest hit in three years as the embattled CEO told investors he was "deeply sorry." (Post-Gazette)

- Gov. John Kasich of Ohio is seeing backlash to his plan to raise taxes on oil and gas producers in his state. (The News Leader)

- And at the Huffington Post, Sandra Steingraber has written a poem for the Marcellus. It contains the line, "Et tu, Marcellus."