DeGette Applauds Fracking Study

DeGette Applauds Fracking Study

March 18, 2010

By: Kirk Siegler

DENVER, CO (KUNC) - The Environmental Protection Agency is launching a $1.9 million study to determine whether a widespread drilling technique known as fracking is polluting groundwater supplies. It's a move being praised by a Colorado lawmaker who's sponsored a bill that would put tighter restrictions on fracking.

DeGette Applauds Fracking Study

March 18, 2010

By: Kirk Siegler

DENVER, CO (KUNC) - The Environmental Protection Agency is launching a $1.9 million study to determine whether a widespread drilling technique known as fracking is polluting groundwater supplies. It's a move beingpraised by a Colorado lawmaker who's sponsored a bill that would puttighter restrictions on fracking.

Congresswoman Diana DeGette (D-Denver) wants oil and gas companies to disclose the chemicals that go into their fracking fluids. Fracking, short for hydraulic fracturing, has been around for decades. But it's become more common in the industry lately - especially in western states like Colorado, where natural gas lies deep below tight sand formations that are hard to break through. Residents along the state's western slope have long worried that fracking fluids are contaminating groundwater. The industry has denied those claims.

DeGette's bill would reverse an exemption the industry has had under the safe drinking water act. Both sides seem supportive of a study first, that could bring better science and clarity to the divisive debate.

In a statement, DeGette applauded EPA's move. But she warned the endeavor could be a challenge because the industry isn't currently required to disclose the chemicals in fracking fluids. That information has long been considered proprietary by the industry. © Copyright 2010, KUNC