EPA to Investigate Hydraulic Drilling
Does natural gas removal method hurt water quality
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
19 March 2010
By Don Hopey
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wants to know if water quality
and public health are damaged by the rock-busting technology used to
free natural gas in the deep Marcellus shale underlying Pennsylvania,
West Virginia, Ohio and Maryland.
To find the answer, the EPA announced yesterday that it will begin a
comprehensive $1.9 million investigation of the adverse impacts of
hydraulic fracturing or "fracking." The process injects millions of
gallons of water mixed with chemicals and sand into a gas well under
great pressure to create cracks in the shale and release the gas.
Although the technology has been employed for 50 years in shallow
wells, its use on a massive scale 5,000 to 8,000 feet underground has
raised concerns the process may degrade surface and ground water and
pose a threat to human health.
"There are concerns, but also a lack of scientific information to
confirm them. This study will fill in some of the data and reduce the
uncertainties," said Enesta Jones, an EPA spokeswoman.
The new study, which the EPA said will be finished by January 2012,
will update EPA's findings on hydraulic fracturing in 2004. That review
found fracking didn't degrade ground water, but its research was
criticized because no ground water testing was done.
Environmental groups said the scrutiny promised by yesterday's
announcement is welcome and overdue, and the state Department of
Environmental Protection said it could help increase public awareness
of fracking risks.
"There's a lot of public concern about whether hydraulic fracking and
the chemicals that it uses could contaminate drinking water, but we've
seen no cases of that so far," said DEP Secretary John Hanger.
"However, a good study would contribute to public understanding and
[DEP's] knowledge about this issue."
Mr. Hanger said there have been several instances of surface and
groundwater contamination caused by new or used fracking water escaping
from containment ponds at drill sites or spills during transportation
of the water to or from well drilling sites.
Earthjustice, a Washington, D.C., environmental advocacy organization,
said hydraulic fracturing worries people from Pennsylvania to Wyoming
and called for repeal of the so-called "Halliburton Loophole" which
exempts hydraulic fracturing from federal Safe Drinking Water Act
regulation.
"Drillers are clamoring for access to regions of the country that are
unprepared for this scale of industrial gas drilling," said Jessica
Ennis, Earthjustice legislative associate. "In Pennsylvania alone,
where the pace of drilling has tripled in the past year, reports of
drinking water contamination are multiplying. Without a federal floor
to protect drinking water in states without sufficient regulations, we
could end up jeopardizing water supplies for millions of people."
The drilling industry also welcomed the study announcement, but said
the technology is well-proven and the government review unnecessary.
"But it will be one more study and a good thing to have done to
demonstrate the safety of the process," said Lou D'Amico, executive
director of the Independent Oil & Gas Association of Pennsylvania.
"Maybe, finally, with the EPA taking a good hard look, some of the
folks running around with bad information will figure out what they're
saying isn't true."
The Marcellus Shale Coalition, a trade organization of the deep gas
drilling industry in Pennsylvania, said it hopes to provide information
for the EPA study.
"Our industry is confident that an objective evaluation of hydraulic
fracturing will reach the same conclusion as other studies -- that it
is a safe and well-regulated process that is essential to the
development of natural gas," the coalition said in a statement.
That position was echoed by other industry trade and lobbying groups,
including the American Petroleum Institute and Energy In Depth, which
also called for a halt to congressional initiatives to give the EPA
authority to regulate hydraulic fracturing until the new study is
completed.
Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., who has introduced a bill to remove the
"Halliburton Loophole" and bring fracking under EPA regulation, said
the Marcellus shale gas is an important energy source with economic
promise, but the extraction must be done the right way.
" And the only way we can do it right," he said, "is by making sure we
don't repeat the mistakes of the past and make sure we're protecting
groundwater and protecting quality of life in these communities."
The Marcellus shale could hold as much as 363 trillion cubic feet of
natural gas, enough to supply the nation's needs for up to 15 years.
It has resulted in a boom in well permits and construction. Statewide,
approximately 2,500 Marcellus shale gas well drilling permits were
issued from 2007 through 2009 by the state Department of Environmental
Protection, which projects another 5,000 permits will be issued this
year.
To date, only 1,100 Marcellus shale wells have been drilled in the
state, according to the Marcellus Shale Coalition, and only half of
those are producing. The others are waiting to be hooked up to the
state's rapidly expanding network of gas pipelines.
Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., who worked to include language calling for
the study into the 2010 appropriations bill, said development of
Marcellus shale gas has the potential to create 200,000 jobs and
generate about $15 billion over the next decade, but the gas must be
extracted in a way that doesn't endanger the state's water.
"I look forward to this study's progress," he said, "and the lessons it
will give us for how to best manage this important activity."
Don Hopey: dhopey@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1983. Washington
Correspondent Dan Malloy contributed.