Last week, Congress passed legislation that “formally urges the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to conduct a new study on the risks that hydraulic fracturing poses to drinking water supplies.” The statement, which is found in the 2010 Department of Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, calls for a “transparent, peer-reviewed process that will ensure the validity and accuracy of the data.” An earlier EPA study, conducted in 2004, found no risk, but has faced criticism. Current EPA administrator Lisa Jackson has acknowledged that a new study is needed.
Earlier this year, the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act of 2009 (“FRAC Act”) was introduced in both houses of Congress. Currently, hydraulic fracturing is exempted from regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act (“SDWA”). The FRAC Act, if enacted, would repeal the exemption, thus subjecting hydraulic fracturing to the SDWA’s regulatory scheme and requiring drillers to disclosure the chemical ingredients of fracturing fluid.
Hydraulic fracturing, a process used to extract natural gas from shale, involves the use of high-pressure fluid to fracture underground rock. The exact components of the fracturing fluid are unknown to the public, as drilling companies have maintained that the ingredients are proprietary. Nationwide, concerns have been raised about potential contamination of underground and surface drinking water by the agents and byproducts of hydraulic fracturing.
Last week’s legislation is of particular interest to New Yorkers because a gas shale formation underlies a significant part of the Catskill watershed which provides much of the City’s drinking water supply. New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation has recently released a draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (“DSGEIS”) on drilling in this shale formation. The comment period for the DSGEIS closes on November 30, 2009.
