NYT: The Halliburton Loophole (on Hydraulic Fracturing & the nation's water safety)

[mod mom]

The Halliburton Loophole

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/opinion/03tue3.html

Among the many dubious provisions in the 2005 energy bill was one dubbed the Halliburton loophole, which was inserted at the behest of - you guessed it - then-Vice President Dick Cheney, a former chief executive of Halliburton.

It stripped the Environmental Protection Agency of its authority to regulate a drilling process called hydraulic fracturing. Invented by Halliburton in the 1940s, it involves injecting a mixture of water, sand and chemicals, some of them toxic, into underground rock formations to blast them open and release natural gas.

Hydraulic fracturing has been implicated in a growing number of water pollution cases across the country. It has become especially controversial in New York, where regulators are eager to clear the way for drilling in the New York City watershed, potentially imperiling the city's water supply. Thankfully, the main company involved has now decided not to go ahead.

The safety of the nation's water supply should not have to rely on luck or the public relations talents of the oil and gas industry. Thanks in part to two New Yorkers - Representative Maurice Hinchey and Senator Charles Schumer - Congress last week approved a bill that asks the E.P.A. to conduct a new study on the risks of hydraulic fracturing. An agency study in 2004 whitewashed the industry and was dismissed by experts as superficial and politically motivated. This time Congress is demanding "a transparent, peer-reviewed process."

An even more important bill is waiting in the wings. Cumbersomely named the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act, it would close the loophole and restore the E.P.A.'s rightful authority to regulate hydraulic fracturing. It would also require the oil and gas industry to disclose the chemicals they use.

The industry argues that the chemicals are proprietary secrets and that disclosing them would hurt their competitiveness. It also argues that the process is basically safe and that regulating it would deter domestic production. But if hydraulic fracturing is as safe as the industry says it is, why should it fear regulation?

Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company

[mod mom]

1. Here's NPR coverage on dangerous Natural Gas drilling from yesterday:

Health Issues Follow Natural Gas Drilling In Texas
by JOHN BURNETT
November 3, 2009
Vast new natural gas fields have opened up thanks to an advanced drilling technique. While natural gas is a cleaner burning fuel than coal or petroleum, extracting it is still hard, dirty work. Some people who live near the massive Barnett Shale gas deposit in north Texas, have compliants. Health and environmental concerns are prompting state regulators to take a closer look.



RENEE MONTAGNE, host:

A boom in natural gas is underway. New gas fields have opened up thanks to an advanced drilling technique. It allows gas to be extracted from underground shale rock formations. Natural gas is a cleaner burning fuel than coal or petroleum, though extracting it is still hard, dirty work. And some people who live near some major gas projects are complaining. NPR's John Burnett has this story from the massive Barnett Shale gas deposit in North Texas.

JOHN BURNETT: To date there are more than 12,000 gas wells in the Barnett Shale. It's a vast rock formation that underlies 5,000 square miles surrounding Fort Worth. To get the gas to market requires an underground highway of pipelines and compression stations. These big internal combustion engines make noise and spew pollutants into the air day and night. State records show that in the past decade the number of gas compressors in the Barnett has jumped from a few hundred to 1,300, and they're getting closer and closer to populated areas.

Mayor CALVIN TILMEN (Dish, Texas): My name is Calvin Tillman. I'm the mayor of a small town of Dish, Texas, the home of free Dish Network satellite TV, and it is also known for 11 natural gas compression stations.

BURNETT: Tillman stands in a field next to the compressor complex along a fence line of trees that died after the engines moved in. His tiny town changed its name to Dish in return for free satellite TV, but the corporate tradeoff with the gas companies has been less beneficial. The compressors sit on the southern boundary of Dish.

The mayor repeatedly complained to state regulators about smell, noise and health problems that his residents were reporting, but nothing happened. So last summer, Dish spent 15 percent of its $70,000 annual budget on a private environmental consultant.

Mayor TILLMEN: And the air study showed extremely high levels of both carcinogens and neurotoxins, and so that's just caused us a lot of concern.

BURNETT: A memo written last week by the top toxicologist at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality expressed concern that the presence of benzene, a potentially cancer-causing toxin detected near the compressors, could pose long-term health risks.

-snip
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120043996

[peacebird]

2. How do we get this stopped? We need to raise awareness clearly

I had never heard of this before...

[peacebird]

3. Just put link to NYT article up on my facebook page.....

[mod mom]

4. I had never heard it either and was appalled after 1st hearing the NPR story.

I just don't understand those who profit from destroying the earth. Where do they expect to go after they ruin this planet? Don't they give a shit about their children/grandchildren?