Letter to EPA Administrator Highlights the Importance of Hydraulic Fracturing Study and Recommends Several Criteria for Conducting the Study
Washington D.C. Representative Gene Green and a Democratic group of U.S. Representatives sent a letter to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson urging support for a transparent and scientifically-sound assessment of the environmental impacts from hydraulic fracturing used in natural gas development as called for in P.L. 111-88.
The conference report for the Department of the Interior Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2010 (P.L. 111-88) requested the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to conduct a study of the relationship between hydraulic fracturing and drinking water using a credible approach that relies on the best available science as well as independent sources of information."
We have a responsibility to develop our domestic energy resources in an environmentally sound manner which requires this study to be conducted properly and with scientific integrity" said Green. It must take into account quality and risk assessment standards expert knowledge and previous studies such as the hydraulic fracturing study EPA previously completed in 2004. We encourage EPA Administrator Jackson to work with Congress to properly evaluate the environmental performance of hydraulic fracturing" said Green.
The results of this EPA study could have significant consequences for our nations energy security. About 90 percent of natural gas wells now operating have been fractured at least once. As the U.S. moves to more unconventional sources of domestic natural gas the National Petroleum Council estimates that 60 to 80 percent of wells drilled in the next decade will require fracturing. Hydraulic fracturing is therefore integral to meeting future energy needs.
The letter led by Representative Gene Green was also signed by Representatives Dan Boren Chet Edwards Solomon Ortiz Charlie Gonzalez Rubn Hinojosa Al Green Silvestre Reyes Eddie Bernice Johnson Charlie Melancon Henry Cuellar Mike Ross Sheila Jackson Lee Jim Matheson Ciro Rodriguez Harry Teague Earl Pomeroy Martin Heinrich Parker Griffith John Tanner Jim Costa and Walt Minnick.
