Water problems from drilling are more frequent than PA officials said.

When methane began bubbling out of kitchen taps near a gas drilling site in PA last winter, a state regulator described the problem as "an anomaly." But the same official was simultaneously investigating similar cases in over a dozen homes across the state.

In fact, methane related to the natural gas industry has contaminated water wells in at least seven Pennsylvania counties since 2004 and is common enough that the state hired a full-time inspector dedicated to the issue in 2006. In one case, methane was detected in water sampled over 15 square miles. In another, a methane leak led to an explosion that killed a couple and their 17-month-old grandson.