Put on the defensive by a new report claiming that U.S. EPA scaled back its study of the potential health threats of natural gas drilling in response to pressure from industry, Administrator Lisa Jackson insisted today on Capitol Hill that she won't let politics trump science.

A series published this week in The New York Times has investigated federal regulation of hydraulic fracturing, a technique that has opened up massive reserves of natural gas across the country. EPA is planning to launch a two-year study on the environmental and health impacts of the process, but some areas of study that were suggested by agency scientists were stripped from the final research plan because of pressure from the oil and gas industry, according to an article published today (Greenwire, March 3).

Tomorrow, Jackson is headed to Pennsylvania, one of several states that sit on top of the vast, gas-filled rock formation known as the Marcellus Shale, she told members of the House Appropriations Committee during a hearing on the agency's budget today.

She described the meeting with federal officials at EPA's regional office in Philadelphia as an effort to understand the "state of play" at the Region 3 headquarters, which has been at the center of the controversy. Despite what several agency attorneys and scientists told the Times, the agency is committed to sound science, Jackson said.

"I need to speak to the professionals out in the Philly office and ensure that they hear from the top of this organization that there is no 'Look the other way, stand down,'" she said. "We intend to do our jobs."

The latest article quoted anonymous staffers from the Philadelphia office as saying that Region 3 Administrator Shawn Garvin's office was resistant to the idea of expanding federal control over natural gas drilling. According to David Campbell, director of the region's Office of Environmental Innovation, Garvin wanted to eliminate some topics from the study out of a concern that "the public may have access to those documents and challenge us to enact those plans."

According to the article, EPA ultimately decided to narrow its study of hydraulic fracturing by ignoring toxic fumes released during drilling, the impact of drilling waste on the food chain and the risks of radioactive wastewater on workers.

Some claims in the article are inaccurate, Jackson said, noting that EPA is planning to study the risk of radioactive wastewater.

"I do believe additional information is due to the public as a result of this series," Jackson said.

Several Democrats on the House Appropriations subcommittee that crafts EPA's budget said today that they were worried by the news reports. Among them was Rep. Maurice Hinchey of New York, who sponsored an amendment to the agency's fiscal 2010 budget that ordered the agency to study the effects of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water.

The oil and gas industry is worried that the Obama administration will create stricter federal rules for a practice that is mainly overseen by state officials at the moment.

Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) echoed those concerns about federal intervention today. In states like Oklahoma, companies have been using hydraulic fracturing for decades without any serious consequences, he told Jackson.

She told lawmakers that the agency understands the importance of natural gas development.

"We believe natural gas is important," Jackson said. "It's a homegrown source of energy, but it must be sustainably and responsibly produced, and future generations shouldn't somehow bear the burden of a rush to produce it."

Markey, Holt critical of decisions

Two other key Democrats criticized EPA today for not investigating gas drilling waste in its study.

"Studying the potentially harmful effects from natural gas extraction is not some innocuous academic exercise, it helps ensure this technology is safe, viable and can make the grade," said Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), ranking member on the House Natural Resources Committee, in a letter that was also signed by Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.). "When a technology involves potential contamination of drinking water in American homes, not completing the assignment is not an option."

Their letter was prompted by the Times series, which previously found that drillers have disposed of wastewater from gas formations at municipal wastewater plants that are not equipped to filter the water for radioactive byproducts, such as radium.

Industry has generally pushed for the EPA study to focus narrowly on the safety of hydraulic fracturing. The industry group Energy in Depth said today it was congressional Democrats, particularly Hinchey, who laid out the scope of the study when they asked the agency to do it.

"What you essentially have here is one lawmaker complaining to EPA that the agency is following too closely the orders of another lawmaker from the same party in setting the course for a study that's already months down the road," said Chris Tucker, EID's spokesman. "And if that sounds confusing and ridiculous to you, it's because it is."

Markey and Holt asked for several studies and documents mentioned in the Times article and asked what steps EPA is taking to protect workers from exposure to radioactive materials.

The House Natural Resources Committee does not have jurisdiction over EPA, but it does oversee the Bureau of Land Management, which manages 40 million acres of subsurface land in 31 Eastern states. That includes management of oil and gas leases on 2 million acres of land in states such as Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New York and Ohio.