Marcellus Shale's impact on water resources

Pennsylvania is experiencing a boom in natural gas drilling using hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in the Marcellus Shale. But with huge volumes of water needed for this process and a tremendous amount of waste water being returned, what is the impact on Pennsylvania's water resources? Although the technology exists, current municipal water treatment facilities are not equipped to treat the volume of waste water that will be generated by the drilling, says Temple environmental engineer Michel Boufadel. "There's no method for treating it in these plants, so the approach has been to dilute it by blending it with other waste water" before releasing it back into rivers and streams, he said.
March 15, 2011 | WHYY-FM's "Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane"