The National Ground Water Association (NGWA), a nonprofit group of groundwater professionals, recently issued a statement announcing that it has produced a position paper on hydraulic fracturing.  The position paper calls for further research regarding hydraulic fracturing, but also suggests that water conservation efforts and issues relating to aspects of oil and gas activity other than hydraulic fracturing are more significant than hydraulic fracturing itself.  The other aspects of oil and gas activity discussed by the position paper include steps in the well construction process, such as casing and cementing, and management practices relating to spill prevention.  The NGWA's position paper states:

NGWA recognizes that hydraulic fracturing of oil and gas wells is a mature technology and has been a widespread practice for many decades.  While no widespread water quality or quantity issues have been definitively documented that are attributable to hydraulic fracturing and related activities at oil and gas sites, there have been isolated cases where faulty casing installations (including poor cement bonds) or poor management of materials/chemicals at the surface are suspected as having negatively impacted groundwater, surface water, or water wells."

NGWA's position paper offers suggestions for groundwater and drinking water protection, and those suggestions similarly focus on aspects of oil and gas activity other than a possibility that hydraulic fracturing itself might cause groundwater contamination.  The NGWA's recommendations focus on

• ensuring proper construction of oil and gas wells
• monitoring of water usage rates
• encouraging the investigation of the feasibility of using brackish water or other alternatives to fresh water for hydraulic fracturing
• properly sealing any old, abandoned wells 
• implementing best management practices to avoid spills
• disclosure of the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing 
• testing of nearby waterwells before and after oil or gas wells are drilled (NGWA explained that, because certain chemicals associated with oil and gas activity sometimes are found naturally in groundwater, before and after testing of water wells could assist in resolving "future contamination complaints"), and
• ensuring proper construction of water wells.

The NGWA's position paper is largely consistent with statements previously made in the Oil & Gas Law Brief, which has stated that issues relating to well construction, well control, and spill prevention merit more attention than hydraulic fracturing.