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11.08.2011 11:21
A key Energy Department advisory panel will issue a qualified endorsement of shale gas exploration today, according to a publication in Washington Post. The report says that hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” can continue safely as long as companies disclose more about their practices and monitor their environmental impact. The committee’s report could ease the way for greater domestic gas exploration, even as it calls for new standards to limit harmful air emissions that bring to the surface gas buried deep in shale formations, the article says. However, Washington Post notes that the report is largely silent on the most contentious issue surrounding shale gas exploration: who should regulate it, and whether regulators should apply to it laws such as the Safe Drinking Water Act.
Shale gas accounted for less than 2 percent of total U.S. natural gas production in 2001; it is now close to 30 percent, and the Energy Information Administration projects that it will amount to 45 percent of domestic production by 2035, the article says. As drilling activity has moved closer to residential areas - and as some researchers have found unusually high methane concentrations in nearby drinking water - local activists have called for a stop to further drilling. But industry officials, many politicians and some environmentalists have argued that the country must exploit a domestic energy source that does not release as much carbon dioxide as other fossil fuels when burned.
The group’s recommendations will go to Energy Secretary Steven Chu, whose department does not regulate natural gas production. But its advice, which covers potential actions by regulators and industry, could carry political weight because President Obama asked Chu to establish the advisory group. On Wednesday, the Environmental Working Group released a letter signed by 28 scientists objecting to the panel, noting that six of its members had connections to industry. The panel’s report calls for full disclosure of the chemicals used in fracturing liquids, along with “adoption of rigorous emission standards for both new and existing sources for methane, air toxics, ozone-forming pollutants and other major airborne contaminants,” although it does not specify whether state or federal regulators should impose those rules.
The Environmental Protection Agency, which regulates air and water quality, is conducting its own study of fracking’s effect on the environment and public health. EPA spokeswoman Betsaida Alcantara said that the agency is reviewing the panel’s recommendations and that it will issue an initial report of its findings in 2012. The Independent Petroleum Association of America said that “the report stands in stark contrast to the strident, hysterical demands for moratoria on hydraulic fracturing.”
The shale gas exploration report is available from the Washington Post website.
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