A new study has found chemicals injected into the ground as part of the controversial natural gas drilling process known as “fracking” could reach drinking water supplies at a far faster rate than initially believed. The study, published in the journal Ground Water, focused on the Marcellus Shale, a massive rock formation stretching through New York and other states where thousands of natural gas wells have been drilled. While scientists previously thought the rock would contain so-called fracking fluid and its blend of dangerous chemicals, keeping it away from water supplies, researchers found the fracking process is making the rocks highly permeable. They concluded the chemicals could reach the surface in “just a few years.”