Pittsburgh • The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday it has completed tests on drinking water in the northeastern Pennsylvania village of Dimock and has determined it is safe to drink, despite the claims of some residents who say it has been polluted by gas drilling.

The EPA said in a statement it doesn't plan further tests, and that there's no need to provide residents with alternative supplies of drinking water.

The town became a focus in the debate over hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, when opponents of drilling showed that some residents have been able to light their tap water on fire because of high levels of methane gas.

Some Dimock residents and anti-drilling groups claimed that Houston-based Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. polluted the local aquifer with methane and toxic chemicals. They have disputed earlier EPA findings that the water was safe.

State environmental regulators previously determined that Cabot contaminated the aquifer underneath homes along Carter Road in Dimock with explosive levels of methane, although they later determined the company had met its obligations under a consent agreement and allowed Cabot to stop delivering bulk and bottled water last fall.

But geologists also noted that some contamination of drinking water in the area occurs naturally, and many people hoped EPA would be able to settle the dispute.

"Our goal was to provide the Dimock community with complete and reliable information about the presence of contaminants in their drinking water and to determine whether further action was warranted to protect public health," said EPA Regional Administrator Shawn M. Garvin.

Cabot said in a statement that its operations in Dimock "have led to significant economic growth in the area, marked by a collaborative relationship with the local community. Cabot will continue to cooperate with federal, state and local officials in using the best and most accurate science to address public concerns."

Kathryn Klaber, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, an industry group, said the EPA findings mean "we're now able to close this chapter once and for all."

Shale gas drilling has attracted national attention because advances in technology have unlocked billions of dollars of gas reserves, leading to a boom in production, jobs, and profits, as well as concerns about pollution and public health. Shale is a gas-rich rock formation thousands of feet underground, and the gas is freed through fracking, in which large volumes of water, plus sand and chemicals, are injected to break the rock apart.

The Marcellus Shale covers large parts of Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and West Virginia, and many other shale deposits have been discovered.