New Federal Rules Are Set for Fracking
FROM AN ARTICLE BY CORAL DAVENPORT PUBLISHED IN THE NEW YORK EDITION OF THE NEW YORK TIMES ON 21 MARCH 2015
New Federal Rules Are Set for Fracking
Extracts
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Friday unveiled the nation’s first major federal regulations on hydraulic fracturing, a technique for oil and gas drilling that has led to a significant increase in American energy production but has also raised concerns about health and safety risks.
The Interior Department began drafting the rules, focused on drilling safety, 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 break up the rocks around oil and gas deposits, could contaminate surrounding water supplies and wildlife.
As the practice of fracking has soared, fights over how and whether to regulate it have broken out across the country. The states have jurisdiction over drilling on private and state-owned land, where the vast majority of fracking is done in the United States. The new federal rules, by contrast, will cover about 100,000 oil and gas wells drilled on public lands, according to the Interior Department.
The regulations, which are to take effect in 90 days, will allow government workers to inspect and validate the safety and integrity of the concrete 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, using an industry-run website called FracFocus.
The Independent Petroleum Association of America immediately filed a lawsuit challenging the regulations, calling it “a reaction to unsubstantiated concerns” and requesting that the regulations be set aside. “From California to Pennsylvania, the oil and natural gasindustry has played a critical role in reviving America’s economy, and hydraulic fracturing has been the key to this revival,” said Barry Russell, the chief executive of the association.
RELATED ARTICLE PUBLISHED BY THE WASHINGTON POST
Obama administration tightens federal rules on oil and gas fracking
The TRUTH will set you FREE.
No comments:
Post a Comment