My apologies for tone. It was uncalled for. I cannot comment on that EPA document yet, since digesting that takes much longer than a day. I think its safe to

My apologies for tone. It was uncalled for. I cannot comment on that EPA document yet, since digesting that takes much longer than a day. I think its safe to assume that the NYT wouldn't lie about this, so point taken. As for the boreholes intersecting all layers from surface to source location, this is true of all boreholes used in oil and gas production. These are legally required to be sealed from surrounding aquifer layers. I say legally here speaking as an Ontarian, I do not know what the case in individual states are. Which is not to say that this is a risk-free process. But the risk is no greater or worse than with conventional oil and gas production. I am not sure what you mean by depressurizing aquifers. I either understand this as causing subsidence by soil consolidation due to decreased pore fluid pressures, as happened in New Orleans during the 20th century (which to the best of my knowledge they are now trying to control). I can also understand this as generally depleting an aquifer, as is going on with the Ogallala Aquifer in what I would describe as the south-central United States. Some clarification is perhaps in order. You are correct that the recharge time on many aquifers of importance is thousands or more years. The Ogallala Aquifer, for instance, is usually considered to be a 'fossil aquifer' since it is not expected to recharge on a human/engineering time scale. As for my use of qualifiers, I was just trying to be honest about the unknowns. From my understanding, limited as it is, I see cautious development in the field as a reasonable course of action. There is risk. I would even agree that the risk is probably greater than that of conventional oil and gas production. But we are also in need of more energy. I fully support renewables and conservation and would like nothing better than to see humanity moving beyond fossil fuels. Unconventional gas (and natural gas as a whole) is seen as a stepping stone to help bridge between oil and renewables.