A typical municipal water well goes no deeper than 1,000 feet. A typical gas shale well goes to 7,500 feet. State regulations all over the country follow an industry practice of sealing off the well with a steel-and-concrete casing at a point below the deepest level of known aquifers in the area – so there can be no intermingling with what's in the well from the sources of groundwater.

There is typically 6,000 feet of rock between the two. 6,000 feet of rock is a pretty good barrier.

The commenter's post belies a disturbing stupidity and Luddite attitude that permeates left-wing thought. This deficiency would be harmless if restricted to hairdressers and sanitation workers, but unfortunately it has escaped up the food chain into the ranks of those with power over their fellow man. This must be remedied before America is rendered completely uncompetitive on the international economic stage.

First, your average municipal aquifer is about 1,000 feet below the surface.

The average shale well goes 7,500 feet down. And typical protocol, codified in virtually every state regulation, is that steel-and-concrete casings are laid in below the deepest point where any aquifers may be found, to segregate the resource from the groundwater.

Also, wastewater from the fracking process is brought back to the surface and either trucked away from the site or treated and reused.

Screaming about groundwater contamination where fracking is concerned is akin to worrying that the process will bring up demons from hell. It’s an uncommonly asinine argument for the Left to make.

As you’ll see on the video, the three EPA staffers Inhofe asked about it were unable to name so much as one episode in which fracking caused groundwater contamination. Fracking involves water and sand and a tiny portion of a few chemicals found in common household goods.

MIght there be even more radical agenda at work here as well?