Earlier this summer, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a draft assessment on hydraulic fracturing’s potential impacts to drinking water resources, along with nine final peer-reviewed EPA reports conducted as part of the study. The draft assessment is based upon extensive review of literature, results from EPA research projects, and technical input from state, industry, non-governmental organizations, the public, and other stakeholders. The assessment follows the water used for hydraulic fracturing from water acquisition, to chemical mixing at the well pad site, to well injection of fracking fluids, to the collection of hydraulic fracturing wastewater (including flowback and produced water), to wastewater treatment and disposal. To comment on the report, visit the docket established by the Science Advisory Board.
Read AGC’s recent fracking update, for more details and additional information.
In related news, a new report from the EPA’s internal watchdog finds that the agency is not doing enough to protect America’s water resources from the potential toxic effects of hydraulic fracturing. The Office of Inspector General (IG), an independently funded office within the EPA, released a report July 16, Enhanced EPA Oversight and Action Can Further Protect Water Resources From the Potential Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing, concluding that enhanced EPA oversight of the permitting process for diesel fuel use during hydraulic fracturing can further that agency’s efforts to protect water resources. Click here for a Podcast overview.
The IG report provides impetus for EPA to more rigorously enforce oversight of fracking through its Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) permit program for Class II wells, which covers fracking wells injecting diesel fuels, and by potentially forcing mandatory chemical disclosure of fracking chemicals.
For more information, contact Leah Pilconis, senior environmental advisor to AGC, at pilconisl@agc.org.