Congress Launches Investigation Into Gas Drilling Practices
ProPublica
19 February 2010
by Sabrina Shankman and Abrahm Lustgarten,
Rep. Henry Waxman announced Thursday that the House Committee on Energy
and Commerce, which he chairs, is launching an investigation into
potential environmental impacts from hydraulic fracturing.
Two of the largest companies involved in natural gas drilling have
acknowledged pumping hundreds of thousands of gallons of diesel-based
fluids into the ground in the process of hydraulic fracturing, raising
further concerns that existing state and federal regulations don't
adequately protect drinking water from drilling.
Rep. Henry A. Waxman, D-Calif., who released the information in a
statement Thursday, announced that the House Committee on Energy and
Commerce, which he chairs, is launching an investigation into potential
environmental impacts from hydraulic fracturing.
The process, which forces highly pressurized water, sand and chemicals
into rock to release the gas and oil locked inside, gives drillers
unprecedented access to deeply buried gas deposits and vastly increases
the country's known energy reserves. But as ProPublica has detailed in
more than 60 articles, the process comes with risks. The fluids used in
hydraulic fracturing are laced with chemicals -- some of which are
known carcinogens. And because the process is exempt from most federal
oversight, it is overseen by state agencies that are spread thin and
have widely varying regulations.
In 2004, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency examined hydraulic
fracturing and determined it can be safe as long as diesel fuel isn't
added to the drilling fluids. The agency based its decision in part on
a non-binding agreement it struck with the three largest drilling
service companies -- Halliburton, Schlumberger and B.J. Services -- to
stop using diesel. But the agreement applied only to gas drilling in a
specific type of geologic formation: shallow coal deposits. The EPA
study has since been widely criticized.
The information obtained by Waxman's group shows that B.J. Services
violated that agreement and that Halliburton continued to use diesel in
other geologic formations not governed by the agreement. All three
companies acknowledged using other potentially harmful chemicals, such
as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene.
A memo released by the Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday said
B.J. Services acknowledged that between 2005 and 2007 it injected 2,500
gallons of diesel-based fuels into coal bed methane wells.
Jeff Smith, CFO for B.J. Services, told ProPublica the incidents in
which diesel was used were isolated, and that the company has been
vigilant in making sure that it has not been used since.
"The company has taken this very seriously," he said.
The memo said Halliburton reported using more than 807,000 gallons of
diesel-based fuel to fracture wells in 15 states during the three-year
period. But in a statement released Thursday night Halliburton said any
suggestion that it had violated the agreement was "completely
inaccurate," because none of the fuel was used in coal bed methane
wells.
"Halliburton is firmly committed to full compliance" with the
agreement, the statement said. The information about the companies came
from an investigation Waxman launched when he was chairman of the House
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform during the last Congress.
As part of the new investigation by the Energy and Commerce Committee,
Waxman and subcommittee chairman Edward Markey, D-Mass., sent letters
to eight companies, including Halliburton, B.J. Services and
Schlumberger, asking for more information about the drilling process
and the chemicals it requires. The five other companies -- Frac Tech
Services, Superior Well Services, Universal Well Services, Sanjel Corp.
and Calfrac Well Services – are smaller companies that make up a
growing share of the market. They are not included in the 2003
memorandum of agreement with the EPA.
"As the use of these technologies expands, there needs to be oversight
to ensure that their use does not threaten the public health of nearby
communities," said the memo from Waxman and Markey.
The letters ask the companies for detailed information, including
documentation of all the wells they hydraulically fractured from 2007
to 2009, the proximity of those wells to underground drinking water
sources, the volumes and types of chemicals used in the process, and
any health and environmental effects of the drilling. If the companies
comply, the committee will have created the most complete picture to
date of hydraulic fracturing.
Smith said B.J. Services will fully respond to the request. When asked
if the company has used petroleum distillates and benzene in its
drilling process, he said, "I'm not going to get into the details in
terms of what the chemicals are." He said that the information will be
disclosed in the company's response to the committee's letter.
Halliburton also said it will respond to the committee's request for
information.
Schlumberger spokesman Stephen Harris said in an e-mail that officials
at the company "have received the Committee's request and are reviewing
it," but he declined to comment further.
Write to Sabrina Shankman at Sabrina.Shankman@propublica.org
Write to Abrahm Lustgarten at Abrahm.Lustgarten@propublica.org