Fracking,fracking water supply,fracking fluid,texas,oil industry,fracking gag orders,fracking pollut

1. Facebook Tw itter RSS YouTube
Follow Reuters
READ
The 7 Deadly Sins Investors Should Know
(Personal Capital)
3 Skills You Need to Become a Forex Trader.
Download FXCM's free guide (FXCM)
How Trading Forex Can Help You Hedge Your
Equity Position (FXCM)
Award winning trading platform from CitiFX Pro –
Free Trial (CitiFX Pro)
The 7 Deadly Sins Investors Should Know
(Personal Capital)
FINANCIAL COMMENTARIES AND GUIDES
Tw eet
Share this
Email
Print
Related News
Japan finds highly
toxic strontium in
Fukushima
groundwater
Wed, Jun 19 2013
U.S. states, greens
delay lawsuit, await
Obama climate plan
Mon, Jun 17 2013
UPDATE 2-Centrica
investment boosts
UK shale gas
prospects
Thu, Jun 13 2013
CORRECTED-
Another
contaminated water
leak at Japan's
Fukushima nuclear
plant
Wed, Jun 5 2013
Evaporating water
supply poses costly
risk for miners
Thu, May 30 2013
Related Topics
Environment »
EPA ends probe of Wyoming water pollution
linked to fracking
Recommend 97 people recommend this. Sign Up to see what your friends recommend.
By Ayesha Rascoe
WASHINGTON | Thu Jun 20, 2013 6:54pm EDT
(Reuters) - The Obama administration on Thursday
dropped plans to further investigate preliminary
federal findings that linked contamination of a
Wyoming aquifer to natural gas drilling, following
industry backlash that called the study into question.
The draft report released by the Environmental Protection Agency in late
2011 sent shockwaves through the oil and gas sector, by finding that
hydraulic fracturing fluids used in shale gas drilling had likely contaminated
groundwater in Pavillion, Wyoming.
Those findings contradicted industry arguments that hydraulic fracturing,
or fracking, has never played a role in water contamination and bolstered
environmentalists who say the drilling practice is a danger to public health.
Critics of the report, including Wyoming officials, raised concerns about
whether EPA properly constructed the wells it used to draw its conclusions.
After numerous delays, the EPA said Thursday it would not finalize the
report or seek a peer review of its findings, instead saying it would allow Wyoming to take over the
investigation.
"We believe that EPA's focus going forward should be on using our resources to support
Wyoming's efforts, which will build on EPA's monitoring results," EPA Acting Administrator Bob
ARTICLE
UPDATE 2-Iranian agency drops Rafsanjani
remarks critical of Syrian government
11:23am EDT
Analysis: Putin sees chance to turn tables on
Obama at G20
2:32pm EDT
Iran ex-president says Syria govt launched
gas attacks-news agency
Home Business Markets World Politics Tech Opinion Breakingviews Money Life Pictures Video
EDITION: U.S. Search News & Quotes

2. DISCUSSED
SPONSORED LINKS
ENVIRONMENT
Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints
Perciasepe said in a statement.
Wyoming plans to release a final report on the Pavillion matter by September 30, 2014.
The U.S. shale gas boom, spurred by innovations in hydraulic fracturing, has unlocked massive
gas reserves, but it has sparked protests from green groups who complain that the rapidly
expanding gas production pollutes air and water.
EPA's draft report raised industry fears that the administration could be moving toward seeking
tighter federal regulations of fracking, which supporters say has been done safely for decades.
Fracking involves the injections of millions of gallons of water underground at high pressure along
with chemicals and sand to extract fuel. Fracking is mostly exempt from federal regulation under
the Safe Drinking Water Act.
Natural gas supporters were triumphant after the EPA's decision.
"The EPA has been on a witch hunt to shut down hydraulic fracturing, but yet again the evidence
has determined it is safe," Senator David Vitter, the top Republican on the Senate Environment
and Public Works committee, said in a statement.
Despite the criticism, EPA said it stands by its work and its data in the Pavillion case.
The agency is currently conducting a separate nationwide study examining the effects of fracking
on drinking water. That draft report is due out in late 2014.
(Editing by Eric Walsh)
Recommend 97 people recommend this. Sign Up to see what your friends recommend.
Comments (0)
This discussion is now closed. We welcome comments on our articles for a
limited period after their publication.
Back to top
Reuters.com Business Markets World Politics Technology Opinion Money Pictures Videos Site Index
Legal Bankruptcy Law California Legal New York Legal Securities Law
Support & Contact Support Corrections
Connect with Reuters Tw itter Facebook LinkedIn RSS Podcast New sletters Mobile
About Privacy Policy Terms of Use Advertise With Us AdChoices Copyright
Our Flagship financial
information platform
incorporating Reuters
Insider
An ultra-low latency
infrastructure for
electronic trading and
data distribution
A connected approach
to governance, risk and
compliance
Our next generation
legal research platform
Our global tax
w orkstation
Thomsonreuters.com
About Thomson Reuters
Investor Relations
Careers
9:48am EDT
Scornful Syria hails 'historic American retreat'
as Obama hesitates
|
5:14pm EDT
Twitter's top legal executive steps down in
surprise move
30 Aug 2013
Britain says no to Syria intervention
as U.S. considers actions
168
IRS issues final rules on
Obamacare’s ‘individual mandate’
151
U.S. fast-food workers plan
nationwide strikes over minimum
wage
145
EDITION: U.S.

3. Contact Us
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts,
personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial
Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.