By Ben Wolfgang - The Washington Times - Thursday, June 4, 2015 In a major blow to environmental activists, the Obama administration said Thursday that the controversial drilling technique known as fracking has not caused any widespread impacts on drinking water, removing a key argument among those who want to limit U.S. oil-and-gas development. The Environmental Protection Agency study, while identifying “potential vulnerabilities” in the fracking process that could affect water supplies, debunked the claim that the drilling practice is contaminating drinking water all across the country and represents a fundamental danger to clean water.
“From our assessment, we conclude there are above and below ground mechanisms by which hydraulic fracturing activities have the potential to impact drinking water resources … These mechanisms include water withdrawals in times of, or in areas with, low water availability; spills of hydraulic fracturing fluids and produced water; fracturing directly into underground drinking water resources; below ground migration of liquids and gases; and inadequate treatment and discharge of wastewater,” the report reads in part, before coming to its central conclusion.
“We did not find evidence that these mechanisms have led to widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water resources in the United States,” the study says.
The combination of fracking and horizontal drilling has dramatically transformed the U.S. energy landscape and has helped push domestic production of oil and natural gas to near-record highs. The U.S. is now the world’s No. 1 producer of oil and natural gas.
Energy industry leaders say the EPA study — which took more than five years to complete — confirms fracking is not inherently dangerous to water supplies.
“After more than five years and millions of dollars, the evidence gathered by EPA confirms what the agency has already acknowledged and what the oil and gas industry has known,” said Erik Milito, director of the upstream group at the American Petroleum Institute. “Hydraulic fracturing is being done safely under the strong environmental stewardship of state regulators and industry best practices.”
The EPA report did identify several “specific instances” where drinking water wells were contaminated, but said the number of cases “was small compared to the number of hydraulically fractured wells.”
Some environmental groups argue there are other practices associated with fracking which may be harmful to drinking water supplies and must be carefully monitored by government regulators.
“The process of fracking itself is one risk factor. But in fact it’s not the biggest one. Ongoing physical integrity of the wells and handling the millions of gallons of wastewater coming back to the surface after fracking, over the lifetime of each well, are even bigger challenges. Relentless focus on these issues by regulators and industry is critical,” said Mark Brownstein, vice president of the climate and energy program at the Environmental Defense Fund.
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