Frack Water Safety Debated

Bill to require drillers to disclose chemicals goes before Congress

WHEELING – Federal legislators Robert Casey and Diana DeGette believe hydraulic fracturing may contaminate drinking water during the natural gas drilling process.

But Marcellus Shale Coalition President Kathryn Klaber said Congress has no business regulating drilling via the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act.

The bill, commonly known as the FRAC Act, was introduced by U.S. Sen. Casey, D-Pa., and Congresswoman DeGette, D-Colo., in each chamber this week. The legislation is similar to a bill of the same name that died last year.

“Pennsylvanians have a right to know the chemicals used in fracking that could make their way into drinking water and other water sources,” said Casey.

“The FRAC Act takes necessary but reasonable steps to ensure our nation’s drinking water is protected, and that as fracking operations continue to expand, communities can be assured that the economic benefits of natural gas are not coming at the expense of the health of their families,” added DeGette.

The bill’s sponsors say the FRAC Act would:

• Require disclosure of the chemicals used in fracking, but not the proprietary chemical formula. This would be similar to how a soft drink producer must reveal the ingredients of their product, but not the specific formula;
• Repeal a provision added to the Energy Policy Act of 2005 exempting the industry from complying with the Safe Drinking Water Act. Some anti-fracking advocates have commonly referred to this 2005 provision as the “Halliburton Loophole.”
The act would also provide power to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to require drillers to have an employee, knowledgeable in responding to emergency situations, present at the well at all times during the exploration or drilling phase.

Klaber, though, said state officials are best equipped to regulate fracking and drilling. However, the West Virginia Legislature did not adopt proposed regulations for natural gas drilling – including chemical disclosures for fracking – in the recently concluded regular session.

“Because of tight regulations and laws in place, coupled with the commitment from industry to protect the environment, there’s never been a single case of groundwater contamination associated with fracturing …,” Klaber said.

Lee Fuller, executive director of Energy In Depth, went further than Klaber, saying the FRAC Act is “based on fundamentally incorrect information,” noting the Safe Drinking Water Act was never used to regulate fracking.

“Its backers say it’s about forcing companies to disclose the composition of the … solution that’s not water and sand, even though just about every state regulatory agency in the country will attest that such information is already available,” Fuller added.

Officials with Chesapeake Energy said about 99.5 percent of the 5.6 million gallons of fluid used to frack a typical well consists of water and sand.

However, if 0.5 percent of the 5.6 million gallons used for a normal well consists of materials other than water and sand, that means 28,000 gallons of chemicals found in products such as antifreeze, laundry detergent and deodorant are pumped deep into the ground at high pressure for each fracking job the company performs.

According to Chesapeake, the company’s most common fracking solution contains 0.5 percent worth of chemicals. These include:

• hydrochloric acid – found in swimming pool cleaner, and used to help crack the rock;
• ethylene glycol – found in antifreeze, and used to prevent scale deposits in the pipe;
• isopropanol – found in deodorant, and used to reduce surface tension;
• glutaraldehyde – found in disinfectant, and used to eliminate bacteria;
• petroleum distillate – found in cosmetics, and used to minimize friction;
• guar gum – found in common household products, and used to suspend the sand;
• ammonium persulfate – found in hair coloring, and used to delay the breakdown of guar gum;
• formamide – found in pharmaceuticals, and used to prevent corrosion of the well casing;
• borate salts – found in laundry detergent, and used to maintain fluid viscosity under high temperatures;
• citric acid – found in soft drinks, and used to prevent precipitation of metal;
• potassium chloride – found in medicine and salt substitutes, and used to prevent fluid from interacting with soil;
• sodium or potassium carbonate – found in laundry detergent, and used to balance acidic substances.

March 17, 2011 – By CASEY JUNKINS
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