Legislation could change the drill for Barnett Shale
Legislation could change the drill for Barnett Shale
June 5, 2009
By: Dave Michaels
WASHINGTON – A drilling technique that made the Barnett Shale into the nation's most prolific natural gas field is under attack from environmental groups and could attract new regulations from a Democratic Congress.
Legislation could change the drill for Barnett Shale
June 5, 2009
By: Dave Michaels
WASHINGTON – A drilling technique that made theBarnett Shale into the nation's most prolific natural gas field isunder attack from environmental groups and could attract newregulations from a Democratic Congress.
Next week, three Democratic lawmakers will introduce legislation to require companies to report any chemicals they use in a mixture that is injected deep underground to break rock formations in which oil and gas is trapped.
The scrutiny comes as Congress considers climate-change legislation that could boost demand for natural gas and as companies such as Chesapeake Energy lobby for subsidies to expand the use of natural gas in vehicles.
"Americans have a right to know if toxic chemicals are being used in their communities," said Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., one of the bill's sponsors and a critic of hydraulic fracturing.
"This industry remains the only industry that is exempt from one of our landmark environmental laws."
Hydraulic fracturing involves a mixture that is 95 percent water, according to the Independent Petroleum Association of America. The rest is sand and chemical additives including toluene, a petroleum distillate that can be toxic to humans and animals.
Residents in rural areas near Fort Worth have expressed concern that chemicals used in the drilling process could invade their wells.
However, drilling operators encase the well in steel and concrete before introducing the mixture, which they say protects groundwater from contamination. An Environmental Protection Agency study in 2004 found the practice posed no threat to drinking water, although environmental groups highlight an EPA whistleblower who said the study involved "limited research" and was reviewed by people with ties to the oil and gas industry.
At a hearing of the House Natural Resources Committee on Thursday, natural gas production companies and state regulators insisted that drilling is safe.
"We believe the states are doing an effective job in managing the risk," said Scott Kell, an Ohio regulator and president of the Ground Water Protection Council.
A recent report by the council, a group of state regulators, said oil and gas oversight is effectively performed by state regulators such as the Texas Railroad Commission. The report recommended that regulators develop a set of best practices, especially in areas where gas seams are close to groundwater.
Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., questioned whether the council's report was unbiased, since some of its activity is sponsored by oil and gas companies. Kell said, "Our opinions are not for sale, and our emphasis is on the protection of groundwater resources."
The oil and gas industry promises to oppose EPA scrutiny of hydraulic fracturing.
The American Petroleum Institute cites a study that says federal regulation could increase the cost of drilling a well by $100,000.
Adam Haynes, executive director of the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association, said some producers might avoid drilling in the Barnett Shale if they faced "another process at the federal level to get a piece of paper signed or have our drilling package reviewed."
"There is very little evidence the federal government would add anything in terms of environmental controls," he said.
DeGette maintains it's impossible to know whether drilling is to blame for health problems because the industry doesn't report to the EPA what chemicals it uses.
"The oil and gas companies have been running a scare campaign that has been totally blowing our bill out of proportion," she told reporters in a conference call.
It's unclear whether her legislation will become law. DeGette didn't offer the measure as an amendment to a climate-change bill that passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee in May. Democrats from energy-producing states such as Texas and Oklahoma are likely to oppose it.
Rep. Joe Barton, R-Arlington, said he didn't think the committee's chairman, Rep. Henry Waxman of California, wanted to "spend political capital" on DeGette's measure.
Waxman has criticized hydraulic fracturing, saying in 2007 that its exemption from the drinking water law is a "loophole" that is "exploited by the oil and gas industry."
"I cannot imagine a serious effort to give EPA this authority, because it would absolutely chill the ability to explore these new gas formations," Barton said.