Debate Over Fracking Rages Across the U.S.: Gas Drilling Deal Cancelled in Upstate New York, Drinking Water Undrinkable in Wyoming
August 3, 2011 For those who haven't been paying attention, the ongoing debate over hydraulic fracturing for natural gas boils down to: energy companies want to drill, while people concerned about drinking water supplies and the effects of drilling chemicals on human health do not.
The EPA has been weighing the risks of hydraulic fracturing—called fracking for short—and plans to conduct a study next year of the impacts fracking has on drinking water, public health, and the environment in general.
By mid-August, the agency will have held four public meetings on the issue, inviting input on the design of the study, which is expected to begin in January and have initial results available by late 2012.
I attended the July 13 meeting in Denver and for four hours, the Marriott hotel conference room seemed a microcosm of a national debate that has people on both sides fighting passionately to win.
An unregulated industry
There are convenient exemptions in the Clean Air and Safe Drinking Water Acts for fracking, which injects secret chemicals (though some legislators are working on legislation to require more disclosure) into the ground to facilitate the extraction of natural gas from the shale formations beneath the surface. (Check out the video below to learn about the process in more detail.)
At the meeting in Denver, residents who spoke of the environmental impact to their land—some holding up physical evidence—alternated with oil and gas interests asserting that fracking has caused no cases of groundwater contamination at all.
One man from Wyoming, a rancher who stood at the podium in his cowboy hat holding a bottle of murky water, said his family can no longer drink their water—and he is not opposed to oil and gas development in general, but drilling "shouldn't come with the expense of the degradation of things we truly cannot live without."
For years now, fracking has been a touchy subject here in Colorado, which is said to be the No. 1 global spot for oil and gas exploration and development. But it's on the rise elsewhere—from the Rocky Mountain west to Texas to the extensive Marcellus Shale formation running from West Virginia through Pennsylvania to upstate New York, where legislators are in the middle of a heated debate over the issue.
Some have applauded the attempt at a cautious approach New York is taking to developing gas upstate, and just last week an executive who supported a gas drilling proposal near Binghamton, NY announced to everyone's surprise that she was canceling the deal. Others are concerned more about ripoff deals for property owners that the companies will try to get away with.
Stay tuned for how the story unfolds, and in the meantime, check out NRDC's action center on the issue. And watch the video below to learn a little about how fracking works, how water becomes flammable, the dangers of the chemicals used—and a guest "explanation" by Tony Hayward!
