Attack Against Gas Well Hydraulic Fracturing Fluids Heats Up
What is the Dispute About?
In recent weeks a new and important states rights vs. Federal control issue has surfaced in the natural gas patch. The reason this dispute is important is that the result could potentially restrict development of the newly discovered-to-be-economic large shale natural gas plays in the U.S. These fields are primarily in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Pennsylvania. The producer community is very alarmed and distrustful of the proposed new Federal drilling fluid disclosure rules, while environmental forces are claiming a need for more information to ensure the purity of water supplies that arguably might become polluted by drilling chemicals.
Who Introduced the Legislation?
According to Energy In Depth, the legislation introduced in Congress on June 9, 2009 by “…U.S. Reps. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.), and Jared Polis (D-Colo.), along with Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) in the Senate,seek[s] to impose new restrictions on a safe and commonly used energy technology known as hydraulic fracturing – an essential technique for extracting hard-to-reach domestic energy while limiting disturbance to land. The legislation… is based on the notion that hydraulic fracturing is unsafe, unregulated, and that it benefits from a special exemption to federal law.”
What is the Major Political Issue?
The fact is that hydraulic fracturing is a long-tested drilling technique that is regulated by that states. However, proponents of the legislation claim that the failure to federally regulate the drilling fluids is an unacceptable exemption in 2005 Energy Legislation meant to benefit companies like Halliburton. They argue that disclosure of the content of the fluids is essential to protect ground water. Producers point out that most of the fuids are composed of water, and only a small amount of chemicals similar to those used in households are in the fluids.
I will continue to monitor this important economic issue and would be interested in your comments.
For more information, see the following links:
http://tinyurl.com/lpxzhl
http://www.pogam.org/news/view.asp?pID=1176
http://tinyurl.com/lxxdqm
http://www.energyindepth.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/friday-fact-check.pdf
http://www.energyindepth.org/2009/06/hinchey-no-need-to-put-hf-sdwa/
http://tinyurl.com/okecg2
http://tinyurl.com/nzsvge
http://tinyurl.com/md72f6
http://tinyurl.com/lv7dl4
http://waterunderattack.com/action-partners.php
