FRACKING FRACAS

‘Fracking’ Bill Gets Buried - Again

By David Frey, 7-01-09

	Abrahm Lustgarten/ProPublica. Read ProPublica's coverage of fracking legislation here.

Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., made headlines last month when she introduced legislation to regulate chemicals used in a part of the gas-drilling process called hydraulic fracturing. “Fracking” pumps a brew of chemicals into the ground to help the gas flow and open up gas plays once considered too tough to drill.  These chemicals were regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act until the 2005 Energy Bill exempted them. DeGette wants that exemption taken away.

The energy industry has balked, though, saying the chemicals are safe and further regulation would be both costly and unnecessary.  Environmentalists say the chemicals could contaminate groundwater and may have already poisoned people who were exposed to them.

DeGette has introduced similar legislation before, but it never caught the attention of the energy industry as much as this time. An Obama White House and a Democratic Congress—now filibuster-proof—has boosted its chances. New gas plays in places like New York and Pennsylvania have raised the profile.

But DeGette’s legislation probably won’t see a vote this year, either. She tells New West that fracking will see more studies before it sees more regulation.

New West: How did the issue of hydraulic fracturing fluids rise to the top of your agenda? It’s something most people have never even heard of.

Diana DeGette: I’ve actually been working on this issue for several sessions of congress now. I was contacted after 2005 when Congress exempted the oil and gas industry from complying with the Safe Drinking Water Act, the only industry that’s exempt from that act. Citizens and communities started having what they thought were adverse reactions to the chemicals in the hydraulic fracturing fluids, but since we had exempted companies from reporting what was in that fluid, they didn’t really know what was making them sick.

I was contacted by some EPA employees, and also from some community activists, who were very concerned and afraid that these chemicals were making people sick but they didn’t really didn’t know since they didn’t know what was in the fluid.

So what do you think its chances are this session? How does it compare with previous years?

It’s interesting. Even though I’ve introduced this bill in past sessions of Congress, the oil and gas industry became extremely upset and concerned this year just when they heard that I was thinking about reintroducing the bill. I think there’s a lot of miscommunication about the legislation and misunderstanding out there.

I am not opposed to oil and gas development done in an appropriate way. I’m not opposed to hydraulic fracturing. What I do think, though, is if chemicals are being put into groundwater that could harm communities, then citizens need to know that. I frankly don’t understand why the oil and gas industry has been so upset about this bill if in fact, as they say, the fracturing fluid is not harmful in anyway.

I’ve met with industry representatives. What I’ve suggested is that we jointly encourage the EPA to do another study to see exactly what’s in these fracking fluids and if they’re harmful to communities. At least some of the members of the industry thought that was a good idea. I think getting more information is always helpful.

The industry reaction has been that these chemicals are safe; that there’s never been a link between hydraulic fracturing fluids and human illnesses. And there are also some proprietary concerns. They don’t want to release what they liken to the recipe of Coca-Cola. These are proprietary secrets.

It’s a chicken-and-egg kind of problem. The industry says there’s nothing harmful in the fluid, but they don’t want to release what’s in there, but it’s not hurting anybody. But then people say, “We think we’re getting hurt by it,” but since they don’t know what’s in there they can’t say definitively what it is. So that’s why I’m saying, let’s at the very least have them report it under the Safe Drinking Water Act. And we have confidentiality provisions in my legislation. I have no intention of forcing oil and gas companies to release proprietary information to their competitors.

How did these fluids get exempted from the Safe Drinking Water Act?

Nobody really knows. This was part of the Energy Bill that was passed in the dead of night in 2005 by the Republican-led Congress during the Bush-Cheney administration. Somewhere, we think in the Senate, the provision was added. When the people voted on the bill, they did not even know that provision was there.

Do you think with a Democratic White House and a Democratic legislature, things might be different when this hits the floor this time?

I think one reason why the industry reacted the way they did was because they were concerned that with a Democratic Congress and a Democratic president the bill might pass. But if there’s really nothing wrong with these fluids, I don’t think the industry should have any concerns.

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