On Thursday, the US Environmental Protection Agency confirmed that it will be conducting a major study to look into any potential ill-effects of hydraulic fracturing to extract natural gas, with the energy industry moving forward to boost domestic natural gas supplies.

The initiative has come as a part of a move by Government officials and academics to try and cope up with an expected rise in the years old practice of extracting of natural gas by injecting water and fracturing rock, a process officially known as fracking.

"There are concerns that hydraulic fracturing may impact ground water and surface water quality in ways that threaten human health and the environment", the EPA said.

The agency has shared that it is now busy reallocating $1.9 Million to help fund for a "comprehensive, peer-reviewed" study. It will send in a request for funds for the coming year in President Barack Obama's budget proposal.

"Hydraulic fracturing has been refined and improved over the past 60 years and has been used safely on more than one million U. S. wells", said America's Natural Gas Alliance President Regina Hopper, while stressing that the new study would help re-affirm fracking's safety.

The EPA has shared that it is hoping to complete the study by the time 2012 rolls in.