In a very notable decision, the Department of Environmental Protection of Pennsylvania has fined the Chesapeake Energy Corp. 1.1 million for contaminating the water supplies of local residents. The state agency said that throughout 2010 it investigated complaints of methane contamination in the drinking water of several residential water wells in northeastern PA. Some of this methane contamination, also referred to virally on the web as "tap water catching on fire", could be seen in the HBO documentary Gasland, and reaffirms many of the concerns brought about by the film. Upon DEP conclusion it was determined that the drinking water contamination had been caused by natural gas drilling and that "improper well casing and cementing in shallow zones" allowed gas from deep basins to seep into drinking water aquifers.

"The water well contamination fine is the largest single penalty DEP has ever assessed against an oil and gas operator, and the Avella tank fire penalty is the highest we could assess under the Oil and Gas Act," said Mike Krancer, who heads the state agency. "Our message to drillers and to the public is clear."

This is a step in the right direction and it seems that the public's outcry for caution due to water contamination from fracking is being heeded by state officials and more importantly the organization that is designed to protect our environment from careless resource removal.

Chesapeake has stated that they are accepting the fine and are making a concerted effort towards improving the raised issues. This is left to be seen, but they are officially on notice,... as are the other companies that are engaged in the practice of fracking as quickly as possible in this gas-land-grab.

The gas industry's wobbly position was brought to the forefront of discussion recently when in April a well blow-out during Chesapeake's well completion operations in Pennsylvania, saw several thousand gallons of drilling fluid escape into local waterways. These sorts of "mishaps" not only threaten to contaminate our own drinking water, but also destroy existence of any animal, fish, and plant life in the affected and surrounding regions.

The Pennsylvania DEP's decision helps confirm a trend in which individual US states are taking a less lenient stance towards shale gas drilling and its potential health and environmental effects. We've seen this in NY as the battle between environmentalists/homeowners and natural gas companies continues to heat up with drilling bans in place. However, concerns over water supply contamination seem to be based on variables other than some would agree with. Currently, there seems to be a thought that contamination is a result of inadequate well casing and cementing. In reality it is the chemical substances used for the fracking that cause the drinking water contamination. This fracking soup of chemicals are known to be very toxic and environmentalists are concerned that the eye may be taken off the ball if the focus is simply on the casing/cementing. Obviously better insulation of these chemicals from the environment is a move in the right direction, but both issues need to be addressed fully.

If you need to protect your water from potential chemical contamination, a berkey water filter equipped with the standard black berkeys are the way to go.