EPA Subpoenas Halliburton Co. Over Missing Data

Gas fracturing information being sought

Bloomberg News
10 November 2010
By Kim Chipman

WASHINGTON -- Halliburton Co., the second-largest oilfield services company, has been subpoenaed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency after failing to provide requested information on hydraulic fracturing.

Halliburton was the only one of nine companies that didn't respond to the inquiry about hydraulic fracturing, a drilling technique that shoots water, sand and chemicals into shale rock under high pressure to extract natural gas, the EPA said in an e-mailed statement Tuesday.

The environmental regulator is gathering data for a congressionally mandated report on the effects of fracturing on drinking water. Expansion of fracturing has produced opposition in communities where residents say water mixed with chemicals may taint local drinking water.

"Halliburton has failed to provide EPA the information necessary to move forward with this important study," the federal agency said in the statement. "Today, EPA issued a subpoena to the company requiring submission of the requested information that has yet to be provided."

Halliburton, based in Houston, called the agency's request for data overly broad. The company said it had already turned over almost 5,000 pages of documents to the agency, and that fulfilling the full request would require preparing about 50,000 spreadsheets.

"We have met with the agency and had several additional discussions with EPA personnel in order to help narrow the focus of their unreasonable demands, so that we could provide the agency what it needs," company spokeswoman Teresa Wong said in an e-mailed statement. "Halliburton welcomes any federal court's examination of our good-faith efforts with the EPA to date."

The company has also been a focus of inquiries by Congress and a presidential panel for its role in providing cement work for the BP Plc well that failed in the Gulf of Mexico, creating the largest U.S. offshore oil spill.

Gas from shale may total half of the U.S. natural-gas supply by 2035, up from 20 percent today, according to IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates, an Englewood, Colo.-based adviser to energy firms.

The Independent Oil & Gas Association of New York, an industry group whose directors include representatives from Halliburton, says fracturing is safe. Environmental groups, such as the New York-based Natural Resources Defense Council, say the chemicals used are often toxic, citing cases in Wyoming and Pennsylvania where residents were told not to drink well water.

President Barack Obama is promoting U.S. natural-gas reserves as an opportunity to advance a national "clean-energy" agenda. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has said she would inform the public immediately if environmental dangers from fracturing are discovered.

Halliburton shares fell 21 cents, or 0.63 percent, to $33.22, in New York Stock Exchange composite trading Tuesday.

The EPA asked the nine companies in September to disclose the chemicals used to dislodge underground natural gas. Halliburton said at the time it would comply with the EPA's request. Schlumberger Ltd., the largest provider of oilfield services, and Key Energy Services Inc., both based in Houston, were among companies that complied with the EPA's request, according to the agency.

The EPA said the following companies also provided the data voluntarily: BJ Services Co., which was acquired this year by Baker Hughes Inc., Complete Production Services Inc., Patterson-UTI Energy Inc., RPC Inc., Superior Well Services Inc. and Weatherford International Ltd.