Oklahoma attorney general says EPA study of fracking is unnecessary By Jay F. Marks Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt isn’t high on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s latest review of hydraulic fracturing regulations. Pruitt on Wednesday sent a letter to the office of the inspector general at the EPA in response to a Feb. 5 memorandum detailing plans to evaluate how the agency and states have done in regulating the process’s impact on water resources. “I am concerned that this project is politically motivated and ignores the EPAs three previous failed attempts to link hydraulic fracturing to water contamination,” Pruitt wrote. “The U.S. Department of Energy has investigated hydraulic fracturings potential harm to water supplies and found no evidence linking the drilling technique to groundwater contamination.” Energy companies have ushered in a domestic oil and natural gas boom with hydraulic fracturing, a process that involves injecting large quantities of water mixed with sand and chemicals into tight rock formations to free trapped hydrocarbons. Critics contend the process can contaminate drinking water, but the industry maintains it is safe. Pruitt said Oklahoma has a long history of regulating hydraulic fracturing. The process was used for the first time in 1949 in Oklahoma and Texas, he noted. “Because of specific knowledge concerning the diverse landscapes, terrain and geological formations within its borders, the states, and not the EPA, are better equipped to regulate hydraulic fracturing,” Pruitt said in his letter. “The state has a vested interest in protecting its drinking water supplies from contamination and has a proven track record of doing so.” Pruitt said the inspector general’s planned review is beyond its stated mission. He urged the inspector general to focus on ferreting out fraud, waste and abuse at the EPA.
Posted on: Fri, 04 Apr 2014 01:45:29 +0000