DURHAM, N.C. — A new study conducted by researchers at Duke University concludes that hydraulic fracturing, a form of drilling for natural gas also known as “fracking,” is contaminating groundwater wells in northeastern Pennsylvania and upstate New York, USA Today reported.

The researchers found that methane levels were on average 17 times higher in groundwater near fracking sites compared with areas where no gas drilling had occurred, the article stated.

“I was extremely surprised. We did not expect to find so many houses with high methane concentrations near gas wells,” said Robert Jackson, an environmental science professor at Duke University and the study’s co-author.

The study was published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

To read the full article, click here.