The issue of whether Marcellus Shale gas drilling caused well water contamination in the Woodlands area of Connoquenessing Township isn’t likely to be resolved anytime soon.

But Woodlands residents currently experiencing bad water in their homes have reason to pay attention to related actions on the state level.

This week, new state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale is launching a performance audit of the state Department of Environmental Protection’s water regulation, testing and enforcement program covering the years 2009 through 2012.

DePasquale expects the review to take up to a year to complete.

For Woodlands residents, findings from the study will be of interest because some residents have expressed concerns and suspicions about the accuracy and thoroughness of DEP’s testing connected to Rex Energy’s Marcellus drilling.

The findings will be of interst not only to residents who blame Rex Energy for serious water problems, but even to people who have not noticed any change in the quality of their water since Rex’s operations in that area began. An examination of the DEP’s actions should be of interest to everyone in the area.

Additionally, the performance audit also should interest owners of new homes that have been built near — but not in — the Woodlands community.

As outlined by DePasquale, the audit will have three major focuses:

1. It will be aimed at determining “adequacy and effectiveness of DEP’s monitoring of water quality as potentially impacted by shale gas development activities, including but not limited to systems and procedures for testing, screening, reporting and response to adverse impact such as contamination.”

2. It will examine DEP’s permitting process for Marcellus Shale gas drilling operations, determining whether DEP regularly conducts follow-up inspections and monitors operations between inspections.

3. It will examine DEP’s monitoring, testing and tracking of the handling, treatment and disposal of drilling waste.

Among the allegations voiced by Woodlands residents and others is that DEP’s water-testing program and the state-run laboratory have produced inadequate and incomplete reports on drinking water contamination complaints related to Marcellus development.

Confirming or discounting those allegations is one of DePasquale’s aims.

Affected Woodlands residents deserve to have confirmed whether Marcellus drilling has caused their water problems.

Amid the current uncertainty, fairness demands acknowledgment that only about a quarter of the Woodlands residents claim to have water problems. Fairness also demands acknowledgment that Pennsylvania is one of only two states that does not regulate water wells, raising the possibility that affected water wells themselves might in some case be the culprits.

The bottom line for the Woodlands is that gas drilling has impacted water or it has not.

Hopefully, DePasquale’s performance audit of the DEP will resolve many of the Woodlands residents’ questions and concerns.

Woodlands residents deserve information based on the best and most complete science available. And they have a right to know whether they’ve gotten that up to now.

Determining that answer is what the auditor general’s review is all about — not only for the Woodlands but for other areas in the state where the issue is contentious.