"Some of the cancer risk from fracking comes from the release of
naturally occurring chemicals found deep in the earth. One of them is
radium-226, which is as radioactive as its name implies. Of over 240
fracked gas wells in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, almost
three-fourths produced wastewater with elevated levels of radiation. [...]
...when carcinogens are released into the common environment, an ongoing
public health and environmental experiment is set in motion, and people
are placed in harm's way, often without their consent. Moreover, as the
report goes on to say, "many of these problems are inherent to the
process and cannot be avoided through regulation." On this basis, Bulgaria and France have
both enacted nationwide bans on fracking. Vigorous public protest
contributed to both of these decisions and led the French environment
minister to concede, "We have seen the results in the U.S. There are risks for the water tables and these are risks we don't want to take."
The new report: http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/tools-and-resources/fracking-new-global-water-crisis/.
http://www.alternet.org/fracking/155022/99_percent_300x250_flash.swf?page=entire
