Gas Drilling Techniques Under Fire … Again
Federal government oversight of hydraulic fracturing – a drilling technique that boosts natural gas extraction by blasting water, sand and chemicals underground at high pressure – is sorely lacking, putting drinking water supplies at risk, an environmental policy group claimed in a report released Tuesday.
According to the Environmental Working Group, a research and advocacy group based in Washington, drilling companies are side-stepping a permitting requirement for the use of diesel fuel in their fracturing fluids by using similar petroleum distillates that contain the same toxins as diesel, but require no permitting.
The report also cites evidence that drilling companies continue to inject diesel fuel underground without the proper permits.
“The industry has been able to operate above the law,” said Dusty Horwitt, the group’s senior counsel. “They’re doing an end-run around what little oversight is left.”
The use of hydraulic fracturing has vastly boosted the productivity of existing natural gas wells and opened new territory to drilling, helping lift natural gas reserves in the United States by nearly a third, and igniting a drilling boom from New York to Wyoming.
For the rest of the story visit, Gas Drilling Techniques Under Fire … Again – Green Inc. Blog – NYTimes.com
The natural gas industry is being attacked because those that wish us to remain on
foreign oil want to discredit them.The environmental groups have shown up in New York
to create fear and confusion amongst the dumb down population of the city. Even though
New York is in the red to the tune of 7 billion dollars, the government is delaying gas drilling
permits based on lies and distortion. There have not been meaningful discussions only closed
door sessions and public circus shows. We could compare the progress to that of Health care reform!
Get the information out in public and discuss how we can both manage the environmental concerns and
fulfill our energy needs. Block off the New York water shed to drilling and have them pay for their resource and the gas under it!