Researchers at the University of Buffalo in New York say the process, known as hydraulic fracturing or "fracking," could force uranium in the rocks to move into groundwater, a university release said Monday.
"Marcellus shale naturally traps metals such as uranium and at levels higher than usually found naturally, but lower than man-made contamination levels," Tracy Bank, UB assistant professor of geology, said. "My question was, if they start drilling and pumping millions of gallons of water into these underground rocks, will that force the uranium into the soluble phase and mobilize it? Will uranium then show up in groundwater?"
