Read the report:
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Oil and gas operators are skirting federal law when they inject toxic "fracking fluids" into wells, threatening drinking water supplies from Pennsylvania to Wyoming, according to a new report by the Washington-based Environmental Working Group.
The report urges Congress to repeal a measure that exempts these drilling practices from the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. Drilling companies in West Virginia and elsewhere have opposed such a move, saying states should regulate the practice.
Newer drilling practices involve injecting millions of gallons of water and sand, mixed with tens of thousands of gallons of chemicals, deep into the ground to break up rock formations and release oil and gas reserves.
The West Virginia Independent Oil and Gas Association says such practices are "long-standing and proven technology that enables operators to better produce much needed natural gas for our nation."
In West Virginia, these practices have become a bigger concern as oil and gas operations began using horizontal drilling and larger-scale hydraulic fracturing -- or fracking -- to extract gas from the Marcellus shale.
These problems came to the forefront in 2008, after polluted water from a drilling site was taken for disposal to a small community sewage treatment plant. The plant wasn't able to handle the material, and some of it made its way into the Monongahela River. Investigators are also looking into whether fracking fluids played a roll in the fish kills that left Dunkard Creek, along the West Virginia-Pennsylvania border, lifeless.
In its report, the Environmental Working Group surveyed state practices from Pennsylvania to Wyoming, also reviewing what little information is available on fracking fluids. They found that most states are not tracking fluids used in fracturing.
Read the report:
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Oil and gas operators are skirting federal law when they inject toxic "fracking fluids" into wells, threatening drinking water supplies from Pennsylvania to Wyoming, according to a new report by the Washington-based Environmental Working Group.
The report urges Congress to repeal a measure that exempts these drilling practices from the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. Drilling companies in West Virginia and elsewhere have opposed such a move, saying states should regulate the practice.
Newer drilling practices involve injecting millions of gallons of water and sand, mixed with tens of thousands of gallons of chemicals, deep into the ground to break up rock formations and release oil and gas reserves.
The West Virginia Independent Oil and Gas Association says such practices are "long-standing and proven technology that enables operators to better produce much needed natural gas for our nation."
In West Virginia, these practices have become a bigger concern as oil and gas operations began using horizontal drilling and larger-scale hydraulic fracturing -- or fracking -- to extract gas from the Marcellus shale.
These problems came to the forefront in 2008, after polluted water from a drilling site was taken for disposal to a small community sewage treatment plant. The plant wasn't able to handle the material, and some of it made its way into the Monongahela River. Investigators are also looking into whether fracking fluids played a roll in the fish kills that left Dunkard Creek, along the West Virginia-Pennsylvania border, lifeless.
In its report, the Environmental Working Group surveyed state practices from Pennsylvania to Wyoming, also reviewing what little information is available on fracking fluids. They found that most states are not tracking fluids used in fracturing.
Under federal law, the Safe Drinking Water Act regulates what chemicals can be injected underground. It limits the levels of pollution that are allowed. The law governs injection from just about every type of industrial activity. But Congress exempted the fracking process from that law, as long as operators aren't using diesel fuel as a fracking fluid.
But the Environmental Working Group found that drillers are using highly toxic chemicals such as benzene, toluene and xylene -- substances that are as dangerous as diesel.
"What the disclosures from industry don't show is that other petroleum distillates can contain the same toxic components that are in diesel, even though only diesel is subject to [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency] or state oversight under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act," the group said in its report.
In West Virginia, oil and gas operators are not currently required to report the chemicals they use in fracking to the state Department of Environmental Protection. DEP officials have proposed new rules on drillers for consideration during this legislative session, but they did not include a reporting requirement for fracking fluids.
Julie Archer, a spokeswoman for the West Virginia Surface Owners' Rights Association, said her group favors federal regulation of fracking, but would also like to see DEP strengthen its rules.
"The industry claims that the chemicals are safe and pose no threat to human health, but as the EWG report indicates, they are not as benign as the industry would have us believe," Archer said. "By failing to require disclosure, the state runs the risk of being perceived -- like the industry -- of hiding danger from the public."
Reach Ken Ward Jr. at kw...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1702.
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