States may keep fracturing oversight

The Associated Press

A congressional committee has approved legislation that would keep regulation of hydraulic fracturing in gas and oil fields with states, rather than transfer it to the federal government.

The process involves pumping water underground to break geologic formations, drawing gas and sometimes oil toward a well.

There is concern that could lead to pollution of water wells. But oil industry officials say there is no evidence of a serious problem.“We’ve had over 1 million hydraulic fractures in this country. And believe it or not, there has not been a single documented case of environmental harm from hydraulic fracturing,” said William Whitsitt, president of the Domestic Petroleum Council.

“So the regulation is working.”

The House Energy Committee last week included a provision for state regulation of “fracing” in the Energy Policy Act, which awaits consideration by the full House and Senate.

The practice is widespread in southern, central and western Wyoming. Those who work in the business say the fluids and fracturing are carefully isolated at the bottom of wells around 14,000 feet underground — separated from most geologic zones that are tapped for drinking water.

“We do it around the world, whether it’s oil or gas. If you can get more production out of one well, then you don’t have to drill two o three to get the same gas,” said Guy Hulsey, facilities supervisor for Halliburton’s Rock Springs office.

Halliburton was on the forefront of developing hydraulic fracturing techniques in the 1990s. Meanwhile, groups like the Oil & Gas Accountability Project want the EPA to step in and require hydraulic fracturing to be regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Under such regulation, the practice would be classified as “underground injection.” But Whitsitt said that’s not what happens.

“Underground injection deals with injecting things that are going to be stored or disposed of in the ground,” he said. “It doesn’t deal with a process where you, for a short period of time, put fluids — primarily water — into the ground and then you suck them back out.”

Currently the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission regulates hydraulic fracturing in the state. Commission Supervisor Don Likwartz said that when a company applies for a permit to drill a well, it must describe where and how it plans to “frac.” The commission then requires that the well bore be cemented or otherwise sealed at certain strata to ensure there is no cross-connection with separate geologic formations.

Whitsitt said the legislation the industry is seeking wouldn’t prevent the EPA from regulating the practice outside the Safe Drinking Water Act.

If the practice were found to endanger drinking water, he explained, the EPA would have the authority to get involved.