U.S. Sets First Fracking Standards in More Than 30 Years

[Purveyor]

Source: Bloomberg

by Mark Drajem
11:36 AM EDT March 20, 2015

(Bloomberg) -- The Obama administration issued the first federal regulations for fracking since the drilling technique fueled a domestic energy boom, requiring extensive disclosures of the chemicals used on public land.

After years of debate and delay, the Bureau of Land Management on Friday said drillers on federal lands must reveal the chemicals they use, meet certain well construction standards and safely dispose of contaminated water that flows back from fracked wells. The oil and gas industry said the rule isn’t necessary because state regulations already govern hydraulic fracturing.

“This rule will move our nation forward as we ensure responsible development while protecting public land resources,” Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said. “As we continue to offer millions of acres of America’s public lands -- your lands -- for oil and gas development, it is critical that the public has confidence that robust safety and environmental protections are in place.”

The rule from the Interior Department agency had been closely watched by drillers because the standards will become a model for state regulations. Domestic production from more than 92,000 wells on public lands accounts for about 11 percent of U.S. natural-gas production and 5 percent of oil production.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-20/u-s-sets-first-fracking-rules-since-process-fueled-energy-boom

[valerief]

1. It's kinda like setting murdering standards or raping standards, isn't it? It's one of

Last edited Fri Mar 20, 2015, 12:46 PM - Edit history (1)

those things that shouldn't be done. I wish we could use the sun for power.

on edit: But I guess some standards are better than none at all. Still, solar is better than fracked gas.

[tclambert]

11. Don't forget all the toxic by-products of solar power . . .

Like shade. And . . . yeah, I think shade is about it.

[LittleGirl]

15. YES. Shade.

I love shade when I want to be out of the sun! And to harvest energy from the sun? Brilliant Idea. Just like DAMs for water. They bring good and excellent ideas with infrastructure that can maintain the population, right? One can hope right?

[obxhead]

17. Yes, a horrible spill at a solar plant.

Is called a nice day everywhere else.

[Munificence]

22. I hate break it to you

but you are only looking at the "end product".

Let's not forget that there is a manufacturing process that creates toxic by-products when making solar panels/cells. You likewise have issues with the waste disposal after 20-25 years when they need replaced. Also, most of our solar panels are produced in California and most manufacturers are not set up to treat the waste, so it is shipped by semi truck (spewing toxins) to far off places like Minnesota....those truck loads of toxic sludge are expensive to ship across the country and that semi truck making a 1500 mile trip to dump the sludge in places like Minnesota sure adds a lot to the carbon footprint of solar.

I am all for solar and am in the middle of strongly considering it (I have obtained 3 quotes for a 10Kw grid tied system within the last 2 weeks).

Yes, it's pretty clean as a final product but there are toxic by-products in the manufacturing process.

[Corey_Baker08]

2. Again, Thank You President Obama & Your Administration...

It strikes me odd & quite frankly pisses me of that even here on DU, A thread like this gets very little to no attention when our President does something that will have a long lasting effect on the environment and environmental regulations way past his Administration.

Yet this post would have by now hundreds of replies if somewhere in the subject line Hillary Rodham Clinton's name appeared.

While I am not Hillary's biggest supporter it concerns me and upsets me that anytime her name is mentioned here on DU, whether it be in the context of something good she has done or said, undoubtedly 75% of the replies to that post would be Republican style attacks against her personally.

I'm not saying we shouldn't have a vigorous debate between who should be our Nominee for President, but let's have that debate when all Candidates have announced, and let's stop the constant attack's on Hillary Clinton at least until she announces her candidacy!

[candelista]

14. What a nice smooch for our Dear Leaders!

[cali]

18. because many of us have been following this

and know it sure as shit will not have a long lasting effect on the environment.

[Corey_Baker08]

20. Well At Least It's A Step In The Right Direction

[DonViejo]

3. Here's some more...

Obama Administration Unveils Federal Fracking Regulations

The Obama administration on Friday unveiled the nation’s first major federal regulations on hydraulic fracturing, the controversial technique for oil and gas drilling that has led to a dramatic increase in American energy production but has also raised concerns about health and safety risks.

The Interior Department began drafting the rules in Mr. Obama’s first term after breakthroughs in the technology, also known as fracking, led to a surge in the production of oil and gas.

The fracking boom has put the United States on track to soon become the world’s largest oil and gas producer. But environmentalists fear that the technique, which involves injecting a cocktail of chemicals deep underground to fracture the rocks around oil and gas deposits, could contaminate surrounding water supplies and wildlife.

The new rules will apply only to oil and gas wells drilled on public lands, even though the vast majority of fracking in the United States is done on private land. The rules will cover about 100,000 wells, according to the Interior Department.

READ MORE »
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/21/us/politics/obama-administration-unveils-federal-fracking-regulations.html?emc=edit_na_20150320

[Raine1967]

7. I was just coming here to post this very article.

The regulations, which are to take effect in 90 days, will allow government workers to inspect and validate the safety and integrity of the cement barriers that line fracking wells. They will require companies to publicly disclose the chemicals used in the fracturing process within 30 days of completing fracking operations.
The rules will also set safety standards for how companies can store used fracking chemicals around well sites, and will require companies to submit detailed information on well geology to the Bureau of Land Management, a part of the Interior Department. (snip)
Friday’s regulations are expected to be the first in a series of new rules governing fracking safety — the Obama administration is also expected to issue rules designed to curb the release of methane, a planet-warming greenhouse gas, from fracking wells.

— Sadly this effects only public lands. Further regulation would seem to require an act of congress.

I am happy that we will see some transparency WRT the crap chemicals they use for fracking. This a really important step in the right direction — and I say that as a person that would like to see fracking gone altogether.

Until that can happen, this is good news.

[Vincardog]

4. As long as they have to publicly reveal ALL the chemicals they use. Maybe we can prove they

CONTAMINATE private and public water.

Make them pay to CLEAN it all up.

[mountain grammy]

5. So the "Oil From Shale" group in Colorado

boasts, "Colorado has the strongest fracking regulations in the country" Ha, Colorado had the ONLY fracking regulations in the country, and they're not worth a shit, with no local control. Ah, but the ads tell us in an upbeat voice, local governments have the right to have a conversation with the frackers.. no really, that's what the ads tell us..

Fucking fracking liars, all of them.

[LiberalEsto]

6. "must reveal the chemicals they use"

This is so critically important! The fracksters have been pumping secret mixtures of heaven-only-knows what toxic chemicals into their frackholes. Those poisons leach out and contaminate nearby land and acquifers. This is our drinking water supply!

I believe Evil Cheney and his oil company pals set up the secrecy rules when they held secret meetings just as he and Dumbya took office back in the Very Dark Ages. Why this slimebag hasn't been prosecuted for war crimes and more is a mystery to me.

[Raine1967]

8. Yes!

This is the most important part of this new regulation IMO. The secrecy rules are no longer there with drilling on Public lands.

[Fred Sanders]

9. The chemicals are the most important to know, they are the most kept secret by the Earth rapists.

[LittleGirl]

16. Like the explosion of obesity and auto immune diseases that are

savaging the citizenry. You've seen the movie Erin Brockovich right? These companies HAVE TO expose what chemicals they are using so we know what type of poisoning we're all getting traces of, in our drinking water.

This is so important. Don't poo poo it yet. This could be HUGE!

[tclambert]

10. Can't we make a general rule: Don't poison your neighbors?

Not even if you make a profit off poisoning them. Poisoning people is not OK. Don't do it. I said, "Don't." That's it, you're grounded!

[LiberalEsto]

12. If only it were possible!

Last edited Fri Mar 20, 2015, 04:43 PM - Edit history (1)

My daughter's husband's stepfather saved his money and bought a small parcel of land in rural Pennsylvania. He and his wife had hoped to retire there. But the property has been ruined by a next-door fracking operation that generates incredible amounts of noise and dust, in addition to poisoning the groundwater. In Pennsylvania, it's legal for the fracksters to do this. Big Coal and Oil run the state.

I've often wondered if fracking is how chemical companies now dispose of their toxic wastes. Years ago they created SuperFund sites by dumping their stuff all over New Jersey and elsewhere.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

13. Additional links from duplicate thread

Sorry: I searched for "fracking," and your thread didn't come up.

U.S. sets first major fracking rules on federal lands

By Valerie Volcovici

Fri Mar 20, 2015 12:50pm EDT

(Reuters) - The Obama administration on Friday unveiled its first major standards for oil companies that frack on federal lands, including beefed-up safety measures to protect groundwater, prompting industry complaints they will be a barrier to growth.

The rules require energy companies to reinforce boreholes and otherwise prevent leakage and provide data on the cocktail of chemicals that helps extract crude oil and gas out of the ground. The rules will add transparency to the practice, long shrouded by companies reluctant to reveal "trade secrets."
....

The standards have been in the works for nearly four years and gone through several drafts, with environmentalists and the energy industry fighting over its scope.

The new BLM standards will require companies to submit detailed information about the proposed operation, including the location of faults and fractures, the depths of all usable water and the depth of estimated volume of fluid to be used.

Five Things About Obama’s Oil and Natural-Gas Fracking Rules

1:10 pm ET
Mar 20, 2015
Business

By Amy Harder and Daniel Gilbert

The Obama administration on Friday unveiled long-awaited regulations setting new standards for hydraulic fracturing in the oil and natural-gas industries, a process that has helped fuel a U.S. energy boom. Here are five things to know about the rules.

{snip}

Interior Department Releases Final Rule to Support Safe, Responsible Hydraulic Fracturing Activities on Public and Tribal Lands

Release Date: 03/20/15
Contacts: Jessica Kershaw , [e-mail]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following a robust and transparent public process that included more than 1.5 million public comments, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell today released final standards that will support safe and responsible hydraulic fracturing on public and American Indian lands. The commonsense standards will improve safety and help protect groundwater by updating requirements for well-bore integrity, wastewater disposal and public disclosure of chemicals.

There are more than 100,000 oil and gas wells on federally managed lands. Of wells currently being drilled, over 90 percent use hydraulic fracturing. The rule applies only to development on public and tribal lands and includes a process so that states and tribes may request variances from provisions for which they have an equal or more protective regulation in place. This will avoid duplication while enabling the development of more protective standards by state and tribal governments. Today’s final rule is a major step in the Department of the Interior’s agenda to support a balanced, prosperous energy future. Other reforms will also include important measures to target where oil and gas leasing occurs and protect sensitive areas that are too special to drill.
....

To view the final rule, click here.

[blkmusclmachine]

19. Poison A, poison B, and poison C.

Drink up, suckers...

[Wellingtom]

21. Earthquakes

Fracking is linked to earthquakes.