{"id":3282,"date":"2011-12-16T09:00:34","date_gmt":"2011-12-16T15:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/?p=3282"},"modified":"2013-11-15T20:35:44","modified_gmt":"2013-11-16T02:35:44","slug":"fracking-report-reverberates-in-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2011\/12\/16\/fracking-report-reverberates-in-texas\/","title":{"rendered":"Fracking Report Reverberates in Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"

A draft report from the Environmental Protection Agency sent shockwaves through the industry<\/a> this week. The report showed that the technique of oil and gas drilling called hydraulic fracturing lead to water contamination in Pavillion, Wyoming.<\/p>\n

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Railroad Comissioner David J. Porter believes the report is flawed, but says more research should be done.<\/p><\/div>\n

The EPA continues to research the impacts of fracking. \u00a0But this study<\/a> came at the request of residents of Pavillion, Wyoming. They asked the agency to investigate drinking water they suspected was tainted from nearby wells. It took three years, but this month, the EPA announced it had found chemicals associated with Hydraulic fracturing in the water.<\/p>\n\n

The news comes at a time of growing acrimony<\/a> between Texas\u2019 overwhelmingly Republican state government and the Obama administration\u2019s Environmental Protection Agency. So it came as little surprise when the results came under fire from some state policymakers.<\/p>\n

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\u201cTo say it was fracking plays within the ideological agenda that the EPA\u2019s got, rather than the hard science and facts,\u201d Railroad Commissioner David Porter told StateImpact Texas. The Texas Railroad Commission is the state agency that oversees the oil and gas industry.<\/p>\n

Lurking behind such statements is the concern that the EPA’s findings could be used to justify stricter federal regulations or even possibly a ban on fracking.<\/p>\n

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“I think the polarized positions in the shale gas development are becoming more entrenched and so you chose up sides rather look at the evidence,” said Dr. Chip Groat, Associate Director of\u00a0University\u00a0of Texas’ Energy Institute.\u00a0 “[That] is not a fortunate thing for either our energy future or for the validity of an environmental issue.\u201d
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Groat headed up a study that recently found\u00a0no evidence<\/a>\u00a0of fracking contaminating water supplies. But the study did find that improper drilling and other surface activities associated with fracking can contaminate water sources. He says if the EPA\u2019s study ends up proving that fracking itself caused the Pavilion contamination, that could throw his findings into question.<\/p>\n

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“That would negate our general conclusion that we haven\u2019t found any evidence. This in fact would be evidence for that [contamination],\u201d said Groat.
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But Groat and others point out that the EPA draft report does not go as far as to categorically blame fracking. \u00a0Instead, the Agency is careful to list its results as preliminary, and contingent upon peer review.<\/p>\n

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