Rep. DeGette and Others Want Fracturing Process
for Natural Gas Regulated

June 5th, 2009
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By David A. Hill

Colorado Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette is joining New York’s Rep. Maurice Hinchey to reinintroduce a bill that would repeal an exemption on hydraulic fracturing, under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. The exemption was part of the 2005 energy bill and followed an Environmental Protection Agency report that found there was little or no threat to underground drinking water from the process.

DeGette and Hinchey blame the “fracking” process for health and environmental problems in oil and natural gas fields in Colorado and elsewhere. The bill is expected to be introduced next week and would require energy companies to disclose the chemicals used in the fracking process. Another Colorado Democratic congressman, Rep. Jared Polis, is a co-sponsor.

“This is a very serious issue. If it is not addressed, large numbers of people are very likely to suffer,” Hinchey told Reuters. “Their water will be contaminated. Their houses will no longer be livable.”

“We don’t think the system is broke, so we question the value of trying to fix it with a federal solution,” said Richard Ranger, a senior policy analyst at the American Petroleum Institute. “So proceed with caution if you are going to proceed with regulating this business because it could make a very significant difference in delivering a fuel that is fundamental to economic health.”

Removing the exemption for fracking would open the door to EPA supervision of the practice., and industry groups are balking at the possibility of another cumbersome federal standard that may require additional permitting, higher water quality for fracking fluid and added testing regimens. They say that fracking is essential for producing gas from the tight sands of the Rockies as well as gas shale reserves such as the Marcellus Shale in the eastern portion of the U.S.

Doug Hock, a spokesman for EnCana Oil and Gas , Inc. (USA), echoes many in the  industry when he says, “This is an answer in search of a problem.” Hock pointed out to Colorado Energy News that hydraulic fracturing has been regulated at the state level for many years–and for good reason.

“The hydrology and geology in each basin is unique and state agencies are best equipped to know and understand the specific requirements needed to protect groundwater.  Here in Colorado we’ve just passed an extensive new regulatory regime that, in part, deals with hydraulic fracturing. Now, with the rules barely implemented, some are already clamoring for another layer of oversight.”

During the hydraulic fracturing process, a mixture of water, sand and chemicals are injected into rock formations at high pressure to force out oil and natural gas. The practice has been pivotal to boosting shale gas production in the U.S. from unconventional resources. The Energy Information Administration estimating that such resources could make the United States virtually self sufficient in natural gas supply by 2030.

Sand and water are the dominant ingredients to the fracking process, but energy companies are reluctant to disclose what chemicals are also used, considering the information proprietary. DeGette has said she knows that, in the past, those chemicals included industrial solvents, benzene and diesel fuel.

Clearly, the political  momentum for more oversight is a big concern to the industry, which has recently formed a coalition made up of independent oil and gas producers , Energy in Depth, to respond to calls for more regulation. The group has lined up support from lawmakers in major gas-producing states like Wyoming, where legislators passed a resolution this year asking Congress to maintain the exemption for fracking.

The importance of fracking to the energy industry hasn’t stopped several Colorado cities and counties from passing resolutions endorsing more regulation.

“Investors are watching it [fracking regulation] very closely because if something was to change meaningfully the deployment of the shales for natural gas, it has the potential to dramatically change market conditions,” Christine Tezak, senior energy policy analyst at Robert W. Baird and Co., told Reuters.

Filed Under: ARCHIVES • Feature Articles • Oil & Gas

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There Are 3 Responses So Far. »

  1. Comment by cogas on 5 June 2009:

    Rep. DeGette, you are meddling in an industry you have little experience in other than hear-say, cherry-picked testimony. Most of these hydraulic fracture operations occur thousands of feet below ground, where there are hydrocarbons (including benzenes and other compounds), not in or near fresh water aquifers. Perhaps if you study the engineering and science involved, you will agree that you are about to create a solution where no problem exists.

  2. Comment by Jim on 5 June 2009:

    The “cogas” comment is strict industry line. He even repeats what is in the article, “a solution in search of a problem”. Really? I’ve been deeply involved in this horizontal shale drilling/hydraulic fracturing using toxic chemicals issue for the past year in Pennsylvania. I have viewed multiple films, including “Rural Impact”, “Land Out of Time”, “Dirty Ole Town” and “Rage of Nature” to name a few. Visit Theo Colborn’s TDEX website. No problem? Look at the satellite images of the Jonah Gas Field in Wy., Eunice, N.M., Andrews, TX to name a few industrial wastelands. Read the testimony of hundreds of people who have been devastated by this gas extraction industry. Now, in the Northeast, they want to drill in watersheds such as the Delaware River Basin. The extraction industry is the ONLY industry that was given the exemptions from the Clean Water, Safe Drinking Water, Clean Air and Right to Know Acts (among others). If it is a benign process, why do they need it? These exemptions need to be taken away immediately. The extraction industry virtually destroyed areas of Colorado (because they were given those exemptions from Federal law), and that is the reason those strict regulations were recently passed by the State; to plug the gaping hole that the industry rushed through! But, that took five or so years, and in the meanwhile, great damage was done. Now, the industry wants to repeat the process in all other shale deposit states. The Federal exemptions must be rescinded. The industry must be brought under control. They will never do the right thing on their own. It is about the money. Follow the money.

  3. Comment by cogas on 6 June 2009:

    Jim

    My comments are NOT strict industry line, they are from nearly 30 years of direct experience in this, plus a good and rounded education including biology, microbiology, chemistry, and organic chemistry, so that has to count for something. You may find it hard to believe, but I have seen the Jonah field and many others close up and very personal, and many more than you have or will see and have only one word for them; UGLY. Then again, I find 20 miles of wind turbines in pristine long grass prairie just as offensive. The difference is, gas wells eventually go away, wind turbines seem to sprout like noxious weeds across our formerly uncluttered views. As for toxicity, remember, these chemicals are in common usage in virtually every household, every municipality, so if it is not digestible to you that we in the oil and gas industry use it, why should that not apply to the rest? Let’s run this crap through a GC or Mass Spec and see what it has and put this argument to bed once and for all. My money is on the fact that it will prove that these secretive mixtures of toxic compounds are simply expensive buckets of common non-toxic compounds (good thing I don’t work for any of these chemical companies). And also remember, nobody escapes the EPA or DOT and they know what these chems are. I worry more about what the buckets these chemicals come in than the chemicals themselves. As for exemption from the Clean Water Act; yes-by law-for now, but I doubt you will find any operator who doesn’t behave now as though the exemption is gone. As for destroying parts of Colorado; I wholly and vehemently disagree. I have worked in the DJ, the Piceance, and the Paradox Basins and have seen our industry take a very active role in environmental as well as community issues. I have personally witnessed operators building water storage, committing thousands of dollars directly to many wildlife causes, and putting money where their mouths are when it comes to helping whole communities. So if you plan on following the money trail, follow all of it. The current industry bears no resemblance to that of 10 years ago, and none at all to the industry of 30 years ago. While law allows us certain rights, we are not idiots and we look ahead to what may be coming in the way of new regulations. This is why you see an abundance of caution for safety and environmental safeguards in most producing areas by most operators, and on the level that you won’t find at even the most progressive non-extractive businesses.

    As for watching movies, I would urge any readers and even yourself to meet the people who are engaged in this business. Not just the PR and company people who are schooled to deal with bad press, but the actual folks in the field who deal with this on a daily basis. I think you will find more people tuned in to doing a clean and correct job than not. I would also bet you could find a few TU, DU, RMEF, and other supporters of environmental issues among us. I only urge people to learn for themselves and not be swept along by the bad press, and attacks by movie makers. Geez, Jim, movies are great, but I don’t even believe Fox News, why would I believe a movie? Sorry to go on so long.

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