EPA Plans Probe of Fracking in Pennsylvania

Susan Phillips

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Susan Phillips tells stories about the consequences of political decisions on people's every day lives. She has worked as a reporter for WHYY since 2004. Susan's coverage of the 2008 Presidential election resulted in a story on the front page of the New York Times. In 2010 she traveled to Haiti to cover the earthquake. That same year she produced an award-winning series on Pennsylvania's natural gas rush called "The Shale Game." She received a 2013 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Journalism Award for her work covering natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania. She has also won several Edward R. Murrow awards for her work with StateImpact. In 2013/14 she spent a year at MIT as a Knight Science Journalism Fellow. She has also been a Metcalf Fellow, an MBL Logan Science Journalism Fellow and reported from Marrakech on the 2016 climate talks as an International Reporting Project Fellow. A graduate of Columbia School of Journalism, she earned her Bachelor's degree in International Relations from George Washington University.

November 3, 2011 | 2:53 PM

The Environmental Protection Agency released its final plan for its hydraulic fracturing study today. Congress asked the EPA to look into the environmental safety of this controversial drilling practice back in 2010. Since then, the EPA has held public hearings across the country to determine what questions their study will try to answer. According to a press release, the focus will be on water.

The final study plan looks at the full cycle of water in hydraulic fracturing, from the acquisition of the water, through the mixing of chemicals and actual fracturing, to the post-fracturing stage, including the management of flowback and produced or used water as well as its ultimate treatment and disposal. Earlier this year, EPA announced its selection of locations for five retrospective and two prospective case studies.

The EPA will study drill sites in Pennsylvania, North Dakota, Louisiana, Texas and Colorado. The entire 168-page report can be viewed here.

The American Petroleum Institute responded to the announcement by saying they believe the EPA study will conclude that gas drilling is safe.

“API is confident that the a full examination of the hydraulic fracturing process will confirm that the sound application of this technology, following well recognized risk-based decision making principles poses no significant risk to human health, drinking water resources, or the environment.” — Stephanie Meadows, policy advisor for the American Petroleum Institute.

The EPA plans to have its preliminary results available by the end of 2012, with the final report coming in 2014.