EPA hands over fracking investigation to Wyoming

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In summary, the EPA has dropped its plans to further investigate whether or not fracking led to the contamination of a Wyoming aquifer, and the agency no longer plans to write a report on the matter. The state of Wyoming is receiving funding from the company involved to study this particular pollution issue.
  • #1
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EPA hands over investigation to the state who is being funded by an oil company?

The US Environmental Protection Agency has dropped its plans to further investigate whether or not fracking led to the contamination of a Wyoming aquifer, and the agency no longer plans to write a report on the matter.

The EPA in 2011 released a draft report, which revealed that hydraulic fracturing fluids used at a shale gas drilling site had likely contaminated groundwater in Pavillion, Wyoming. Oil and gas companies have long argued that fracking poses no water contamination risks, but the EPA’s results demonstrated otherwise.

http://rt.com/usa/epa-fracking-study-water-pollution-073/
 
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  • #2
That sounds a lot like the United Nations asking Muammar Gaddafi to investigate human rights violations.

Oh, wait. They did exactly that. And now the EPA has followed the UN's lead.
 
  • #3
The federal government receives billions in revenues by way of leases and fees from oil and gas companies, not including their business taxes. I'm not sure I would single out one US state as "funded" by oil companies.
 
  • #4
Greg Bernhardt said:
EPA hands over investigation to the state who is being funded by an oil company?

http://rt.com/usa/epa-fracking-study-water-pollution-073/

There is a lot of evidence that fracking companies are making sealed settlements with individuals.

Companies have insisted homeowners sign non-disclosure agreements before receiving any money. Among the companies that have fought disclosure are Range Resources Corp. (RRC), Encana Corp. and Aruba Petroleum.


Buying people’s silence means the media and the government will have a difficult time determining the true impact of fracking on local communities.

http://www.allgov.com/news/where-is...es-with-contaminated-water-130610?news=850250

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-06-06/drillers-silence-u-dot-s-dot-water-complaints-with-sealed-settlements [Broken]

bold mine:
 
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  • #5
mheslep said:
The federal government receives billions in revenues by way of leases and fees from oil and gas companies, not including their business taxes. I'm not sure I would single out one US state as "funded" by oil companies.

With the EPA out of the picture the state of Wyoming is receiving funding from the company involved to study this particular pollution issue.

Instead, Wyoming will take over the study in Encana’s field of about 125 gas wells, with help from $1.5 million from Encana.

http://articles.washingtonpost.com/...mental-protection-agency-hydraulic-fracturing
 
  • #6
edward said:
With the EPA out of the picture the state of Wyoming is receiving funding from the company involved to study this particular pollution issue.

...
Maybe so, however the federal government which runs the EPA receives billions from oil and gas interests. Federal politicians receive millions in campaign donations from the same. If the OP's point is to show how Wyoming's opinion on the matter is being bought because of a revenue source ($1.5 million), I fail to see how the EPA's opinion is immune from the same influence.
 
  • #7
mheslep said:
Maybe so, however the federal government which runs the EPA receives billions from oil and gas interests. Federal politicians receive millions in campaign donations from the same. If the OP's point is to show how Wyoming's opinion on the matter is being bought because of a revenue source ($1.5 million), I fail to see how the EPA's opinion is immune from the same influence.

I can understand why the State of Wyoming did not want the EPA report to be released.

The state isn’t a disinterested party. Governor Matt Mead says taxes paid on gas extraction—$430.4 million last year—are the state’s “single largest revenue source.”

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-09-06/fracking-is-safe-except-in-wyoming

The Indian tribes involved aren't at all happy either. Some good sub links in the link below. This topic goes much deeper than just the EPA dropping the nearly completed study.

http://wyofile.com/wyofile-2/tribes-residents-say-epa-deserted-them-in-pavillion/
 
  • #8
You do know who Dick Cheney was and that there is a purposeful loop hole which was just installed some years ago just for fracking. Fracking is now exempt from the EPA clean water act...

They are kind of stealing wheel barrels as people keep looking at the sand within the barrel saying they are stealing nothing. I have seen a few sites which list the USA as having over 1 million frack wells. Each well can consume up to 11 million gallons or more of water. Let us say the average is 7 million per well. That would be 7 trillion gallons of permanently poisoned FRESH water just in the USA.

This is not contaminated water due to underground connections of other water sources, this is directly injected from clean NON salt water sources. 7 Trillion. If this simple estimate was off by a factor of 10 that is still 700 billion gallons of permanently poisoned water just in the US. This poisoned water is uncontestable and is a simple fact for which they try to hide.

This method of course connects with other water sources and poisons many times that in factors of 10's to hundreds to thousands. Once these underground sources are contaminated, even though these areas are naturally filtered they are gone forever.

70 Times the max amount of Radon can be in that fracked byproduct. Ionizing much material with a great surface area which was NEVER meant to be unleashed by nature in that way.

Earthquakes. Oklahoma used to have 50 earthquakes a year up to around 1.0 or a little more tops. In 2011 they had over 1100 in an 11 month period with some going as high as 5.6 due to fracking. This is Oklahoma...

When you sync vibrations over a period of time you weaken the infrastructure below. Nature never intended for this. It is virtually INSANE. Due to global warming and the redistribuation of large amounts of water mass this will also increase stresses world wide. This stress is not an even displacement is it? Where will the water be more and where will it be less?

When not if one of these gas, oil and water areas gets connected to a magma pocket and they will, it will make the A-Bomb look like a matchstick event.

Water areas have been hit in past history by magma and the events were super explosions.

Even if there was no super bad event of any kind, the areas that frack would have constantly weakened infrastrucures, piping, electric, water, etc... Due to constant qaukes... This is very expensive. Whoe will pay for this?
 
  • #9
We over farm. This means there is much surface area which would have exponentially high transfer rate of sunshine to carbon. This rotation has been disrupted by greed. Many farmers could not afford to water their crops because the frackers bought their water source which raised the price of water. This means no crops and large land masses which do nothing but bake in the sun. This is not what nature had in mind due to normal cycling of billions of years. This intervention is huge and is a tremendous super heater to the upper atmostphere and can cause shifts in the jet stream or normal weather patterns further exasperating other problems.

One thing affects another which affects another.

Ethanol? What can be said? All things are connected.
 

1. What is fracking and why is it being investigated?

Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is a method of extracting natural gas or oil from shale rock formations deep underground. It involves injecting a mixture of water, sand, and chemicals at high pressure to fracture the rock and release the trapped gas or oil. The EPA is investigating potential environmental and health impacts of fracking, including groundwater contamination and air pollution.

2. What is the EPA's role in this investigation?

The EPA is responsible for enforcing environmental laws and regulations in the United States. As part of this responsibility, they have been conducting a comprehensive study on the potential impacts of fracking on the environment and public health. This includes investigating specific cases of contamination and working with state agencies to develop regulations for safe fracking practices.

3. Why has the EPA handed over the investigation to Wyoming?

The EPA and Wyoming have reached a settlement agreement in which the state will take over the investigation of water contamination cases related to fracking. This decision was made in part due to a lack of resources on the EPA's end, as well as a recognition of the state's expertise and jurisdiction over oil and gas operations within its borders.

4. What does this mean for the future of fracking regulation?

This decision does not change the EPA's overall role in regulating fracking. The agency will continue to conduct its comprehensive study and work with states to develop regulations. However, it does signal a shift towards more state-level involvement in investigating and regulating fracking operations. This could potentially lead to a more tailored approach to regulation based on individual state needs and resources.

5. What are the potential implications of this decision?

Some environmental and community advocacy groups have expressed concerns that handing over the investigation to Wyoming could result in less thorough and impartial investigations. They also worry that states may be less likely to hold fracking companies accountable for any contamination that may occur. However, others argue that state involvement could lead to more efficient and effective regulation and enforcement, as states have a better understanding of their unique environments and resources.

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