ProPublica is reporting a new scientific study has linked natural gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing with drinking water contamination, in some cases so severe that some faucets can be lit on fire. The researchers from Duke University found that levels of flammable methane gas in drinking water wells increased to dangerous levels when those water supplies were close to natural gas wells. The study was based on 68 drinking water wells in northeastern Pennsylvania and southern New York State. In 2010, Josh Fox, the director of the documentary film Gasland, appeared on Democracy Now! and talked about how he filmed one man in Colorado who could light his faucet water on fire.

Josh Fox, director of Gasland: “So, a lot of people in that area, which is a heavy gas drilling area, would go ahead and test it themselves. And he discovered, lo and behold, that he could light his water on fire. So what you see right there is this enormous explosion coming right out of Mike’s sink. I ended up doing it myself, you know, and lighting the water on fire out of the sink.”