Comment on the German Draft Legislation on Hydraulic Fracturing: The Need for an Accurate State of Knowledge and for Independent Scientific Research

The Need for an Accurate State of Knowledge and for Independent Scientific Research Martin Elsner,*,† Kathrin Schreglmann,† Wolfgang Calmano,‡ Axel Bergmann, Andrea Vieth-Hillebrand, Franziska D. H. Wilke, Klaus-Michael Wollin, Anett Georgi, Winfried Schmidt, Thilo Hofmann, Vesna Micic, Avner Vengosh, and Bernhard Mayer †Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen, Institute of Groundwater Ecology, Ingolstadter Landstrasse 1, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany ‡Hamburg University of Technology, Institute of Environmental Technology and Energy Economics, Harburger Schlossstrasse 36, 21079 Hamburg, Germany IWW Zentrum Wasser, Moritzstrasse 26, 45476 Mulheim an der Ruhr, Germany Helmholtz Centre Potsdam GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Telegrafenberg, 14473 Potsdam, Germany Lower Saxony Governmental Institute of Public Health, Roesebeckstrasse 4-6, D 30449 Hannover, Germany Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research UFZ, Department of Environmental Engineering, Permoserstrasse 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany Westfalische Hochschule, University of Applied Sciences, Neidenburger Strasse10, D-45877 Gelsenkirchen, Germany Department of Environmental Geosciences, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria Division of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, United States Department of Geoscience, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta Canada T2N 1N4