News

Ever since the results of a new University of Cincinnati’s groundwater study finding no contamination from hydraulic fracturing were announced at a town meeting several weeks ago, (see EID’s video of the results here) many questions have been raised about the funding of the study. Here are the myths and the facts:

Claim: UC says the study was not funded by taxpayers. The Times Reporter stated last week that UC said state and federal funding “did not fund the water sampling campaign.”

Fact:  The study actually could not have been conducted without the taxpayer funded tools to determine the findings. According to UC’s own press release:

“Funding for the UC study was supported in coordination with …the Ohio Board of Regents… were also awarded a $400,000, 3-year grant from the National Science Foundation (EAR-1229114) for an isotope ratio mass spectrometer. The instrument measures the stable isotope composition of methane, which can indicate whether it is derived from biological activity or natural gas.” (emphasis added)

Moreover, according to the terms of the National Science Foundation grant, UC is required to produce the results of this study. As the National Science Foundation’s grant award for the projects states:

“Results from research projects using this instrumentation will be disseminated through student and faculty presentations at national and international scientific meetings, publications in peer-reviewed journals, and online data repositories.”

As the US Chamber has correctly pointed out, neglecting to produce a formal report of their findings, “looks to be in violation of the grant the University of Cincinnati used to fund its research...