Study Examines Controversial Natural Gas Extraction

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - A well-known Philadelphia science organization is stepping into the Marcellus Shale drilling debate.

Dr. David Velinsky, vice president for environmental science for the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, says a Penn graduate student conducted research for the academy over the summer on less than a dozen creeks or streams in northeastern Pennsylvania.

Velinsky says the purpose was to determine whether any pollutants were released into the watershed as a result of the drilling for natural gas through the Marcellus Shale formation:

"We did find that the amount of drilling, the drilling density as we call it, could be related to the impact to the aquatic environment downstream of the drilling activity. This is a very preliminary study and much more sampling needs to be done."

Velinsky says it's difficult to draw solid scientific conclusions based on the data and that's why the academy has applied to the state Department of Environmental Protection's for a grant to fund a broader research project.

Reported by KYW Newsradio's Mark Abrams