The federal government has concluded that natural gas fracking fluid is the likely cause of a fish kill in Eastern Kentucky back in 2007. The spill into Acorn Fork Creek killed most of the stream’s Blackside dace population, which is a federally threatened species.
Anthony Velasco is an ecologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and was one of the first officials on the scene.
“One particular area immediately downstream of one well had conductivities, which is a measure of dissolved minerals and salts in the water, more like what you’d find in seawater. Now in those areas, you can imagine, there wasn’t much living there.” –Anthony Velasco
NAMI Resources, a London (KY) based company, pleaded guilty to the spill in 2009. Federal and state entities are working to restore the natural resources that were damaged by the release.