As a result of the fracking revolution, North America has overtaken Saudi Arabia as the world's largest producer of oil and gas. This, despite endless protests from environmentalists. But does drilling for natural gas really cause pollution levels to skyrocket?

 

A team of geochemistry researchers affiliated with Concordia University, l'Université du Québec à Montréal, l'Institut national de la recherche scientifique, and the GEOTOP research group has just completed the first detailed study to examine the natural quality of groundwater prior to fracking.

 

The resulting report, commissioned by the Strategic Environmental Assessment Committee on Shale Gas, provides a benchmark for naturally occurring levels of pollution. This will help scientists prove definitively whether fracking causes groundwater pollution by establishing the concentrations of methane, ethane, propane, helium and radon found in the groundwater in a location where fracking has yet to occur -- the low-lying areas surrounding the St. Lawrence River, between Montréal and Québec.