Yesterday, on the first day of a new congress, a bipartisan group of U.S. Representatives sent a letter to president Obama urging him not to regulate the hydraulic fracturing practice for natural gas.
The EPA has yet to conclude its study as to whether or not the chemicals used in the process threaten underground water supplies.
However, the thirty-two members of the Congressional Natural Gas Caucus wrote in a letter that "the vast majority of scientific evidence shows hydraulic fracturing to be
safe, less resource-intensive for the environment than traditional
methods, and properly managed and regulated at the state level.” They did not state the source of the scientific evidence.
Just last month the EPA said natural gas drilling near homes in Parker County, Texas, caused or contributed to the contamination of at least two residential drinking water wells.
The Caucus, led by co-chairs, Reps. Tim Murphy (R-PA) and Dan Boren (D-OK), called on the Interior Department to refrain from placing any new regulatory burdens on natural gas exploration and production that could increase energy costs or suppress job creation.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has suggested his agency may seek to impose new rules and regulations on producers using the hydraulic fracturing process, which is used to recover natural gas from unconventional sources. However, it is unlikely that any regulation will be put in place before the EPA concludes its study.
In November, the EPA issued a subpoena to Halliburton (NYSE: HAL), following the company’s refusal to fully comply with a request for information about the chemicals used in its hydraulic fracturing process.
A copy of the letter is available at the link below.
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