UPDATE (12/13/16, 3:43 EST) In yet another sign EPA’s word changing in its final groundwater report was driven by politics rather than science, EPA Deputy Assistant Administrator Thomas Burke admitted when pressed by Wall Street Journal reporter Amy Harder that documented number of cases of water contamination from fracking-related activities is indeed small — even though language from the draft report stating cases of contamination “were small compared to the large number” of fracked wells was taken out of the final report. From the Wall Street Journal,

When asked, Mr. Burke did reiterate the report’s earlier findings that the EPA found only a small number of cases of contamination but stressed the lack of data.

“While the number of identified cases of drinking water contamination is small, the scientific evidence is insufficient to support estimates of the frequency of contamination,” Burke told the Wall Street Journal. “Scientists involved with finalizing the assessment specifically identified this uncertainty in the report.” (emphasis added)

Of course, there’s absolutely no difference between saying the “number of identified cases of drinking water contamination is small” and there are “no widespread, systemic impacts.”

— Original Post December 13, 2016 —

Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the final results of its lon...