Three House Democrats from New York are urging U.S. EPA to review its decision not to seek a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing in the New York City watershed.
"We ask that you also look into contamination concerns in New York and look into the withdrawal of the planned call for a drilling moratorium in the New York City watershed," said the letter, signed by Reps. Carolyn Maloney, Maurice Hinchey and Jerrold Nadler.
The letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson pointed to "disturbing" reports in a recent New York Times article about fracturing indicating that politics played a role in an EPA decision not to support calls for a moratorium on use of the high-volume process in the upstate area where the city gets its water.
The Times reported last week that the agency had planned to call for a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing in the New York City watershed last year. The paper reported that internal documents indicated that the advice was removed from the publicly released letter. The paper quoted an unnamed scientist saying the decision could be explained with one word: "politics" (Greenwire, March 3).
Former Gov. David Paterson (D) last year imposed a moratorium on fracturing until July 1 on "high-volume, horizontal hydraulic fracturing" (Greenwire, Dec. 13, 2010).
An industry spokesman ridiculed the idea of political interference in the agency's decision on the moratorium.
"The reason that EPA decided not to call for an outright ban in 2009, my guess anyway, is that the science for once actually won the day and the tie went to the state, which has been studying this issue now for three years," said Chris Tucker, spokesman for the industry organization Energy in Depth, formed by independent drillers to fight federal regulation of fracturing.
Also today, Hinchey praised the pressure EPA is putting on Pennsylvania regulators to do more monitoring of wastewater from Marcellus Shale gas drilling waste in the state.
"The public needs to know what is happening to this wastewater and what contaminants may or may not be reaching their drinking water systems," Hinchey said in a statement.
Pennsylvania officials had reported radioactivity tests came back "at or below" safe levels. But EPA Regional Administrator Shawn Garvin wrote a letter asking the state to perform additional tests within 30 days on water at treatment plants.
EPA is also requiring that all state-issued permits be reviewed to see whether treatment plant operators handling waste from natural gas drilling are within the law. The state must send data to EPA so the federal agency can decide whether permits are strict enough.
"EPA is prepared to exercise its enforcement authorities as appropriate where our investigations reveal violations of federal law," the agency said.
Recent reports have shown that wastewater from the natural gas industry contains high levels of radioactivity and is being sent to treatment plants not designed for radioactive materials. Processed water is then discharged into waterways (Greenwire, March 8).
Click here to read the letter from EPA to Pennsylvania.
