http://www.timesleader.com/news/EPA_hearing_focuses_on_reducing_gas_drilling_air_pollution_09-28-2011.html
September 28, 2011
By KEVIN BEGOS

PITTSBURGH — A public hearing Tuesday on proposed rules to reduce air pollution from oil and gas drilling operations found at least some points of agreement between industry and environmental groups.

Howard Feldman, the director of regulatory and scientific affairs at the American Petroleum Institute, was the first speaker at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency hearing in Pittsburgh.

Feldman asked the EPA to extend the public comment period and give companies a one-year extension to comply with the new rules. The current EPA timeline would see the rules take effect in the spring of 2012.

But Feldman told The Associated Press that industry isn’t opposed to the basic concept of the EPA proposal, which would apply new pollution control standards to about 25,000 gas wells that are hydraulically fractured, or fracked, each year. The fracking process blasts large amounts of water deep into the earth to break up dense shale and allow natural gas to escape.

“We think EPA has done a good job on the rule. We think it’s pretty reasonable,” Feldman said. “We just need a few more accommodations to make this work smoothly.”

The technology to implement the proposed rule allows drillers to capture and sell gas that would normally go to waste. EPA estimates that the rule would actually save the industry about $30 million each year.

“A lot of companies are doing that already,” Feldman said of the capture process.

But some said the issues in Pennsylvania require more time to review.

Kathryn Klaber, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, said her group thinks there’s “a lot more work to do” on the proposed rules, which could place a heavy burden on industry.

But citizens and environmental groups said there should be no delays in implementing the rules, because there are already problems.