EPA now says it doesn't know if fracking harms drinking water

The Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday that it cannot decisively say if fracking poses a threat to drinking water after saying in a previous draft that it did not pose any harm, according to a finalized assessment.

The study comes after a cadre of scientific advisers in August scolded the agency’s draft report for stating that hydraulic fracturing, the process of injecting water and sand in rock deep underground to force oil and natural gas out, poses no apparent harm to communities’ drinking water where the drilling method is prevalent.