States Do A Fine Job Of Tracking Nat Gas Fracking, Say Producers - No Need For ANY Fed Oversight!!

[hatrack]

States do a fine job of regulating the drilling process of "fracking," and transferring that regulatory authority to the federal government is not necessary, according, to West Virginia oil and natural gas industry executives. Identical bills were introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate this summer to repeal a portion of the Safe Drinking Water Act that exempts hydraulic fracturing operations from that act.

Fracking, as it is known in the drilling industry, is a process that injects treated water deep into the productive zone of natural gas and oil wells to fracture the rock and stimulate more production of gas or oil. The procedure has been a common practice in the industry since the 1940s and is used to enhance production from new and older wells.

Senate Bill 1215 and HR 2766 are known as the FRAC Act -- Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals -- and would amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to repeal an exemption for hydraulic fracturing operations. In effect, the bill would transfer regulatory responsibility from state agencies to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The legislation also would require companies to disclose the chemicals they use in hydraulic fracturing operations.

EDIT

Besides their belief that stricter legislation is not necessary, both Kozera and Burd questioned the need for federal regulators to take over review of what traditionally has been a state regulatory responsibility. "There have been many technical articles written and presented to show that hydraulic fracturing is a safe, efficient and cost-effective method to extract oil and natural gas for our country's energy needs without causing environmental harm," Burd said. "State governments in the oil and natural gas-producing states have long recognized this and have crafted appropriate regulations to govern the exploration of oil and natural gas in an environmentally safe manner." Added Kozera: "The states do a pretty darn good job of regulating this and other industries. If you step over the line, they'll whack you. The regulations are there, and the states enforce them well."

EDIT

Ed. (emphasis added) - Well, OK then!!! Who needs those silly old regulations?

http://www.statejournal.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=69355

[pscot]

1. Besides, what could possibly go wrong?

n/t

[hatrack]

3. Especially these days, when states have lots of money for environmental enforcement!

:eyes:

[Champion Jack]

4. Ruined water wells for one

it's happened around here.

[pscot]

5. It seems rather small minded of you

to put the concerns of a few well owners ahead of corporate profits. Where would we be if everyone took that attitude.

[thunder rising]

2. Standing behind the gentleman, reminiscent of the phone commercial, is all the bought state official

bobbing their heads. "See they all agree".

[excess_3]

6. why should this be a federal issue? .nt

[NickB79]

7. Because the Fed. Government has to step in when crap like this happens

Due to indiscriminate fracking?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x215030

""It looked like this slime had fallen out of the sky," he said. "I picked up a handful of dirt, and it just squirted all over the place. It was terrifying." The culprit was salt in the river water, which when mixed with clay soils turned the cropland into a soggy mush. Muggli and Montana state regulators believe the high salt content is at least partly the result of deep groundwater extraction by coalbed methane (CBM) operations in neighboring Wyoming -- one of the nation's leading producers of coalbed methane. The water, pumped by the millions of gallons from coal seams to help coax gas to the surface, is then routinely pumped back into the Tongue River and other watersheds by CBM operators, where it indiscriminately mixes with downstream water supplies."

[zeaper]

8. Due to indiscriminate fracking? -I don’t think so

Conventional deep gas wells are fracked to get the gas out of the rock. With Coal Bed Methane shallow water wells are drilled into coal seams, no fracking involved.

[NickB79]

9. That doesn't sound reassuring

If coal-bed methane extraction uses shallow wells and they can destroy soils like that, wouldn't deep-gas fracking be using MORE water, thus releasing more polluted water and creating the potential to do more damage?

[zbikerwy]

10. doesn,t sound reassuring ???

nope, deep well fraking in deep well coal seams already has more water available under higher pressure, from what I'm seeing going on in the powder river basin they don't use water anyway, compressed CO2 is what is used, it's cheaper,faster and less chance that any environmental damage could happen. Everyone in northern wyoming is having a chuckle at montana thinking that wyoming is the cause of that problem.( it's kinda like blaming your neighbor for your roses dying, probably not his fault but you hafta blame someone besides yourself lol) the water that is removed from the well at the start of production is cleaned so well that they are actually using some of it now to sprinkle their gardens and the like. pretty amazing what modern science can accomplish if ya give it a chance.

[NickB79]

11. "Everyone in northern wyoming is having a chuckle at montana"

"thinking that wyoming is the cause of that problem."

Well, from the link I posted, the EPA disagrees with you, because Montana's salinity regulations had the EPA's backing. Have any actual evidence to back what you say, which contradicts what the scientists at the EPA say?

[zbikerwy]

16. sure, here ya go

i cant seem to go to the origional page directly and wasn't thinking i would need to keep it so i never archieved it, but here it is non the less
http://cc.bingj.com/cache.aspx?q=wyoming+low+salinity+methane+well+water&d=5018480351449458&mkt=en-US&setlang=en-US&w=45cd127b,694b36ce
also keep in mind that anadarko's co2 dipersion units have pretty well eliminated fracking with water in n wyoming, if deq was relying on that and that alone to be an issue they seem to have missed the boat, also as with most wells currently working any excess water is piped off tword midwest and treated or cleaned now with the new reverse osmossis machines
tadaaa, problem solved
as mentioned before, the chuckling continues

[Nihil]

12. Speaking of "reassuring" ...

> compressed CO2 is what is used, it's cheaper,faster and less chance
> that any environmental damage could happen.

I like nice inert harmless alternatives like this under high pressure.

[Dead_Parrot]

13. What could possibly go wrong? nt

[Nihil]

14. REM Iterate to solve

13: Goto 1

:P

[Dead_Parrot]

15. rinse and repeat....

bang!