Have you ever wondered what the state’s top environmental official thinks about hydraulic fracturing?

Michael Krancer – who leads the Department of Environmental Protection – recently went on the record while speaking to a Rotary club.

A newspaper story captured the substance of his remarks – as well as his consternation with the commonly conveyed misperceptions about drilling.

In an effort to fight the fiction, he cited an independent study by Penn State showing that hydraulic fracturing of the Marcellus Shale hasn’t affected Pennsylvania’s groundwater.

That study covered 200 drinking-water wells near Marcellus Shale natural gas wells in 20 counties.