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Today's Top News
EPA Administrator Forecasts Potential Shift on Bush-Era Drilling Loophole
Signaling the potential for an important policy reversal, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson said in a congressional hearing on Tuesday that the agency would consider revisiting its controversial position that a popular natural gas drilling technique doesn't harm groundwater.
Administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency Lisa Jackson gives a press conference during a G8 environment meeting in Siracusa, Sicily. (AFP/Str)
A 2004 study [1] (PDF) conducted by the EPA concluded that hydraulic fracturing [2]
-- a process that involves pummeling the earth with millions of gallons
of water mixed with sand and chemicals to extract natural gas -- causes
"no threat" to underground drinking water.
The study is often used by the gas industry to rebut concerns over drinking water contamination. It was also the main basis for a provision in a 2005 energy bill that exempts hydraulic fracturing from regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The bill says the process is exempt because it doesn't harm groundwater. Opponents of the exemption are trying to repeal it, and a new study from the EPA would add muscle to their argument.
A ProPublica investigation [3] co-published with BusinessWeek [4] last November identified serious flaws in the EPA's 2004 study. We found that the agency negotiated directly with the gas industry before finalizing its conclusions and ignored evidence that the process might indeed contaminate water supplies.
Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) expressed concern [5] about these issues and recent reports of contamination near drill sites. At a House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior hearing on Tuesday, he asked Jackson [6] whether the emerging evidence would prompt the EPA to revise its previous conclusions.
Jackson said she recognized that the current regulations restrict the EPA's ability to protect groundwater and said the issue "was well worth looking into." But she didn't say how the EPA would approach the problem or whether the 2004 study would be revised.
A spokesperson for Jackson would not elaborate on her remarks.
The statement has stirred optimism [7] among environmentalists who have been urging the EPA and Congress to repeal the exemption. They feel it's a sign that the Obama administration is willing to take a fresh look at the Bush administration's legacy on gas drilling.
"Big ships turn slowly," said Bruce Baizel, an attorney with the Oil and Gas Accountability Project [8], "but I think this is the first time EPA has acknowledged that maybe their previous conclusions were not entirely supported by sound science."
Industry representatives contend that fracturing is safe and dispute the claim that the process has been linked to water contamination. They also maintain that fracturing is best regulated by individual states, rather than the federal government.
"The EPA study is one of several studies done by a variety of different interests in the past decade, and I don't believe that there is any compelling evidence that the risk has changed since 2004," said Lee Fuller, vice president of government relations for the Independent Petroleum Association of America [9]. "The reports mentioned (in the hearing) have been analyzed to show that they are not related to hydraulic fracturing."
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7 Comments so far
Show AllYeah, sure.
Just like they were going to shift their position on valley fill dumps from mountain top removal.
The Marcellus Shale drillers and their political shills here in PA would go ape-shit if more restrictions were put on of the fracking or dumping their frack fluids down the nearest creek with impunity. Mo one knows what kind of toxic additives might be in the fluids, and they are not required to divulge the content of the fluids, because they are "proprietary secret". Property and profit always takes precedence over human life. Their paid politician shills from the rural Alabama-part of PA are even fighting the imposing of a severance tax on this gas bonanza - something that every other state does.
And, of course they want it to be regulated at the state level. The Federal government may be compromised by corporate influence, but it is nothing like the influence the corporations have through the flying-monkey rural-right reps in Harrisburg, Charleston, Columbus, Albany or Frankfort. I suspect other states are the same. That's why the corporate right always supports devolution to state and local governments.
And finally, as someone who worked in the oil patch - of course fracking can contaminate groundwater. The whole process relies on perfect bonding of the casing cement between the casing and borehole, or some of the frack fluids go up the hole . Oil well casing cementation remains a very imperfect science. Pressures high enough to break open the tight joints in the shale 9000 feet sown are of course also high enough to break the casing cement bond.
The only fix is to require them to install least three shallow monitoring/pumping wells at the well site, and if fluids are detected, pump the wells and lower the water table enough so the leaked frack fluids cannot migrate down-gradient. Dispose of the pumped water (and their waste brine) at a hazardous waste facility. Compared the the multi-million dollar gas well. The monitoring wells are cheap; they have them at every gas station. Unless, of course frack fluids are detected and need cleanup. But hey, they shouldn't have to worry about that if they are so sure that they aren't contaminating the groundwater.
In more-democratic countries, the necessary regulations would be totally uncontroversial.
don't hold your breath for this one! ms. jackson track record in nj. is a joke and their still
trying to dig themselves out from her ''leadership'' obama is following the bush template
where you hire the last person you should hire and hire them ala ken salazar. enough
talking though its time for action! lets pile into dc like the french to voice our displeasure
and make moe larry and curly understand its over. game set and match! these clowns
could give a shit if you call e- mail what ever. they have become immune to these tactics.
its time for mass demonstration its what they understand. if some of us get arrested
or die so be it. all change is thru struggle. i don,t confrontation with arms but they
will try to kill us and try to say that there was provocation. people bring your cameras.
tell the truth
Wow, not many people are willing to come right out and say what you said. I happen to think you are right about them being immune to e-mail, letters etc... and I do think that ultimately, the kind of action you are speaking of is probably what people are going to be doing a lot of, about a lot of issues, all over, very soon. I am afraid that it's inevitable, because those at the top are really not listening.
There is just one problem... It still won't work... call me a pessimist, but I think we are too late for the boat to turn around on almost all the issues facing us. The continued destruction of our environment will happen, the climate will keep changing and the economice collaspe will be complete soon... Then all hell will break loose.
You see, it's not that I don't think we should keep trying. Because we can be building and creating the new civilization as this one crumbles. But it's not going to be just something we are doing on the outside, not just projects etc, it's in the way we think and the way we love and care about others. It's in the way we realize how connected we all are to earth and to each other. The pain we will be experiancing soon enough will be long and difficult. But what we must keep in mind, is love and our humanity. These are the only real tools that will save us... from ourselves.
What we have in our world is a few who have idiotic fixations with things like power and greed to everyone and everything else's detriment. But it must be realized that their power and wealth are without reality, what they have wrought is built of lies mixed with deceptions, do not fear them.
God gives us all the tools we need to build a wonderful world filled with joy and happiness for all and for all things, we just have to have a willingness to learn how to use these tools which too requires a deep and abiding love of our fellow brothers and sisters and nature itself; of existence itself. Let this certainty fill you with joy even before our dreams become real and steel your soul against their nothingness.
The EPA is being used as a tool, isn't that the end of the story?
"big ships turn slowly" I cannot tell you how sick I am of hearing that. At the rate this turning is going we'll be even more Bush-Cheney at the end of Obama's first four years.
Why is it that the Democrats come in with much more of a majority than the Republicons ever dreamed of having and they do nothing but tell us how they have to "reach across the isle." The American people have rejected the Republicons so completely that they are actually no longer a national party. Dick Cheney is almost universally considered not even to be a human being yet it seems as if Barack Obama has to bow to him.
When Bush came into power only by massive vote fraud in Florida, he declared that the American people gave him a virtual mandate. He had license to dictate that his and his neocon foreign agent cohorts could literally do as they will. They ended up with the support of not just the republicons but the de facto support of even people like Harry Reid who continues to support Bush so substantially that he promotes the lies of 9/11 and the horrendous mistreatment of the poor souls in Guantanamo. Even if torture and mistreatment were ended completely the mere act of keeping these people in custody in Guantanamo is itself an act of horrendous torture. Who are these people that call themselves Democrats really? There certainly are few if any Jack Kennedys or Mike Barnes in town. The few around seem to be fearful of speaking out even with the massive bulk of the American people behind them.
I say we worry less about party and more about what they do in office. We need an even more extensive house cleaning of rotten politicians in the next several elections.
If President Obama and Congress would embrace the American people as much as they embrace the people that bribe them from big pharma and the defense industrial complex they would have all the power and support they needed to pass any legislation.
Wow...! This is great news...! It took four months...
But Broke Owebama has finally turned this Ship'o'State around...!
Hear that everyone...? Jackson said that the EPA may eventually consider someday to review some of the pseudo-science that exempts natural gas extraction from US Law...! And if and when they appoint a committee to research and do some analysis on the subject, the EPA may actually decide to do something about changing their policy... If they don't get sued by Big Oil, or something...
This a pledge... A promise of change that maybe kinda-sorta will do something or another someday to slightly alter one aspect of one issue among the tens of thousands of environmental crimes that the EPA isn't enforcing, even though they already have the legal framework to do so...
A new day is dawning...! Big oil must be shaking in their boots...!
First they closed Guantanamo... Then they ended the practice of torture & renditions... Then they ended the Iraq war... Then they dropped appointing lobbyists... Then they made government transparent and stopped utilizing the State Secrets priveledge...
Wait... What's that...? Oh... Nevermind...