Fracking does not pose a direct threat to drinking water supplies, the Obama administration said Thursday in a major study that represents a serious blow to environmentalists and other vocal opponents of U.S. oil
and gas production.
and gas production.
The landmark Environmental Protection Agency report, nearly five years in the making, found that the drilling technique had no “widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water.” The conclusion casts doubt on the wisdom of President Obama’s latest regulations for governing fracking on public lands and undermines the claims of environmentalists, many Democrats, some liberal media outlets and others who have led the charge against fracking.
The EPA study did identify several “potential vulnerabilities” in the fracking process and found several instances in which spills at drilling sites found their way into water supplies.
Those isolated incidents do not indicate that fracking itself carries inherent risks to water, the EPA said.
to water, the EPA said.
“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,” said Thomas A. Burke, the EPA’s science adviser and deputy assistant administrator of the agency’s office of research and development.
and their drinking water resources,” said Thomas A. Burke, the EPA’s science adviser and deputy assistant administrator of the agency’s office of research and development.
Specifically, the report identified “mechanisms” by which fracking — short for hydraulic fracturing — can contaminate water supplies. Those mechanisms include spills, inadequate treatment and discharge of wastewater. Nothing in the EPA’s report, however, backs up environmentalists’ claim that fracking is a direct threat to drinking water.
Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jun/4/epa-fracking-doesnt-harm-drinking-water/#ixzz3cICh0Mkq
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