Tests Show That a Pennsylvania Town's Water Was Contaminated by Fracking

"Three years after noticing discoloration and odors in their wells, residents in New Freeport are still fighting for clean water."

"In the summer of 2022, John Stolz got a phone call asking for his help. This request—one of many the Duquesne University professor has fielded—came from the Center for Coalfield Justice, an environmental nonprofit in southwestern Pennsylvania. 

They told him about New Freeport, a small town in Pennsylvania’s Greene County that had experienced what’s called a “frac-out,” when drilling fluids used in the fracking process escape their intended path and end up at the surface or elsewhere underground, in this case via an abandoned gas well nearby. Residents had noticed strange odors and discoloration in their well water. Their pets were refusing to drink it. Now they wondered if it was unsafe. 

Stolz, who has been testing water for signs of pollution from fracking for more than 10 years, agreed to find out.

The testing that he and his colleagues carried out over the next two years shows that residents were right to be concerned. They found evidence for oil and gas contamination in a larger geographic area than was initially reported, according to a study published last month. Of the 75 samples tested, 71 percent contained methane."

Kiley Bense reports for Inside Climate News October 7, 2025.