Fracking supporters were boosted Thursday by a new Environmental Protection Agency report finding the controversial oil-and-gas extraction process has not caused "widespread" harm to drinking water.
The findings were contained in a draft assessment, as part of a report requested by Congress.
The report said the agency "did not find evidence" that any process has "led to widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water resources in the United States."
The agency did say the controversial drilling technique could affect drinking water if safeguards aren't maintained. It found specific instances where poorly constructed drilling wells and improper wastewater management affected drinking water resources.
But the EPA also reported the number of cases was small compared with the large number of wells that use hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking.
For industry and congressional voices who have long argued the health hazards associated with fracking are overblown, the report appeared to be a boon.
"Today's study confirms what we already know. Hydraulic fracturing, when done to industry standards, does not impact drinking water," Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, chairwoman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said in a statement. "States have been effectively regulating hydraulic fracturing for more than 40 years and this study is evidence of that."
