Shale Drilling Faces Crackdown
Wall Street Journal
27 April 2011
By Ryan Tracy
The Environmental Protection Agency will more closely regulate the use
of diesel fuel in a drilling process used to recover natural gas,
Administrator Lisa Jackson said Tuesday.
The EPA until recently hasn't moved to regulate hydraulic fracturing, a
process that involves injecting various types of drilling fluids into
wells to free oil and natural gas trapped in shale formations deep
underground.
Instead, the EPA relied on state regulators, in part because Congress
in 2005 exempted hydraulic fracturing from regulation under the federal
Safe Drinking Water Act.
But the EPA still has authority to regulate the injection of diesel
fuel into underground wells. In January, House Democrats released the
results of an inquiry that found companies had used 32 million gallons
of fracturing fluids containing diesel fuel from 2005 to 2009. The
inquiry found that the companies had not sought and the EPA had not
issued permits to use diesel, an apparent violation of the Safe
Drinking Water Act.
House Democrats also issued a report earlier this month showing that
between 2005 and 2009, 29 known or possible carcinogens were present in
fracturing fluids used by oil and gas service companies. The report was
based on data provided by 14 companies.
Ms. Jackson said Tuesday the agency was consulting with the oil and gas
industry, states and other federal agencies as it considers guidance
for companies who seek permits for injecting fracturing fluids
underground.
"In general, we would prefer to allow the states to be the first level
of response," Ms. Jackson said. But she also said the agency was
looking "to find those places where EPA needs to provide, if not
guidance, some direction as far as injection of fracking fluids. The
place where we do have a gap right now is on diesel injection."
Some oil and gas companies say they no longer use diesel in fracturing
fluid, which is made up largely of water and sand. Industry groups also
have sued the EPA to stop it from moving forward with the permitting
guidelines, saying that the agency has not gone through a proper
rulemaking process to develop them.
"We recognize they have the authority under the law to regulate the use
of diesel fuel in the hydraulic fracturing process," said Lee Fuller,
vice president of government relations for the Independent Petroleum
Association of America, one of the plaintiffs in the suit. "Our
challenge is principally that they didn't develop the regulations under
the federal administrative procedures law."