EPA: Fracking not causing major harm to drinking water

[Geee]

The Hill:

Hydraulic fracturing has not caused any major harm to drinking water supplies, the Environmental Protection Agency concluded Thursday.

 

In what the EPA is calling the most comprehensive examination of existing data and science on the impact the controversial oil and natural gas drilling technique has on drinking water, it largely debunked concerns about extensive contamination of well water or other sources.

 

And while the draft report released Thursday is largely a win for industry, which has said for years that fracking is completely safe, the EPA recognized some “potential vulnerabilities in the water lifecycle that could impact drinking water.”

“EPA’s draft assessment will give state regulators, tribes and local communities and industry around the country a critical resource to identify how best to protect public health and their drinking water resources,” Thomas A. Burke, an EPA science adviser and top official in its research office, said in a statement.

“It is the most complete compilation of scientific data to date, including over 950 sources of information, published papers, numerous technical reports, information from stakeholders and peer-reviewed EPA scientific reports,” he said.

[Geee]

EPA gives Republicans new ammo in fight against fracking regs

 

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) new hydraulic fracturing report is entering national and state debates over regulating the practice and giving Republicans ammunition to fight the rules.

 

In the report, the EPA said that it found some instances of drinking water contamination caused by fracking, but overall, it found no “widespread, systemic impacts” on the drinking water supply.

 

Republicans say that the EPA’s findings disprove the need for further restrictions on fracking.

Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah), chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, said the report proves that the Interior Department’s fracking rules for federal land are unnecessary.

“After five years of study, the EPA learned exactly what the states, industry and even some of the more competent bureaucrats in the Obama administration have known for some time — hydraulic fracturing is not a threat to drinking water,” Bishop said in a statement.

“This report is damaging for the administration and contradicts a predominant claim the White House has used to justify a federal fracturing rule,” he continued.

http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/244057-gop-cites-epa-report-to-fight-fracking-restrictions

[Valin]

That evil Steven Hayward takes time out from despoiling the planet to weighs in.