Rural, low-income communities with high proportions of elderly residents face the most potential exposure to fracking-related contamination in their groundwater, according to a new study. 🧵1/9 news.agu.org/press-release/…

Over the past two decades, #fracking has boomed in the Appalachian Basin. But so have concerns about contaminated drinking water. 2/9

The @EPA’s latest report on groundwater pollution from fracking was released in 2016, and one of its main conclusions was that we lack good data on how drinking water could be contaminated by fracking.
cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/hfstudy/r… 3/9

A new #AGUpubs study from @DezielLab_yale helps fill in the gaps. Scientists simulated groundwater movement and conducted a socioeconomic assessment in PA, OH and WV to see which populations are most likely to be exposed to groundwater contamination. 4/9

Communities with lower per capita income are more vulnerable to groundwater contamination related to fracking, the study found.

Those residents are also less likely to have mitigation tools, like good water filters or funds to purchase bottled water. 5/9

Communities with more elderly residents were also more likely to have groundwater wells at risk of contamination. Pollutants could exacerbate older people’s more fragile health. 6/9

Communities with more people living in mobile homes face higher risks, too.

Because these residents aren’t landowners, they may face environmental burdens without financial benefit, the study suggests. 7/9

“Our study adds to the growing body of evidence showing disparities in who bears the burden of risks posed by oil and gas development,” said author Nicole Deziel, a @YaleSPH environmental epidemiologist. 8/9

Read the open-access study here: agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/20… 9/9