FMCAUD is proud to be one of the supporters of the Frac Act (bill to close Halliburton Loophole). It is time the Oil & Gas Industry has to disclose one of their many dirty little secrets....what really is in their fracking fluid. We desperately need a sponsor from Texas.
Contact your Senator and Representative for your area and let them know how important this is to the State of Texas. Below is a link to find your Senator and Representative.
http://capwiz.com/lcv/dbq/vote_info/?command=results&state=TX&chamber=&session=1102&sort=Score%2CName&submit.x=11&submit.y=8&submit=go
American Rivers - Center for Food Safety - Earthjustice
Earthworks/Oil and Gas Accountability Project - Environment America
Environmental Working Group - Food & Water Watch
International Center for Technology Assessment - National Alliance for Drilling Reform
National Audubon Society - National Wildlife Federation
Natural Resources Defense Council - Public Citizen's Energy Program
Rural Community Assistance Partnership, Inc. - The Wilderness Society
Waterkeeper Alliance - Western Organization of Resource Councils
September 10, 2009
Dear Senator/Representative:
Our 160 national, regional, state and local organizations, including conservation, faith,
sportsmen and community organizations, urge you to co-sponsor S. 1215/ H.R. 2766, the
Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals (FRAC) Act. This important
legislation would repeal an exemption in the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) for an oil
and gas technique called hydraulic fracturing. It would also require public disclosure of
the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing fluids.
Oil and gas production is present in over 30 states, and a consistent national standard is
needed for this practice. Hydraulic fracturing involves the injection of fluids into oil or
gas wells at very high pressure in order to crack open the underground formation and
allow oil or gas to flow out more easily. These fluids often contain toxic chemicals, some
of which remain underground. The pressure places stress on the oil or gas well and can
lead to unpredictable consequences. Our organizations represent communities across the
country that are concerned about drinking water contamination linked to hydraulic
fracturing operations. Reports of drinking water contamination come from Colorado,
Texas, Arkansas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Alabama and Wyoming.
While states regulate oil and gas production, state rules vary widely and a federal floor is
needed. As stated in a study by the Hastings College of the Law, “many of the state
regulatory schemes date from earlier waves of resource extraction, and have not kept
pace with changed technologies, nor with a deepening concern for public health and the
environment.” For example, a recent report issued by the Ground Water Protection
Council found that some states do not require a well’s surface casing to be set through the
deepest ground water zone. Protection of drinking water is a national concern that should
not be left to a patchwork of state regulations
In 2005, Congress exempted hydraulic fracturing from the SDWA to the benefit of
Halliburton and other oil and gas companies. It is time to close the Halliburton Loophole
and hold the oil and gas production industry to the same standards as any other industry.
Most states have primacy for regulating underground injection; under this legislation
EPA could allow states considerable flexibility to tailor their rules to local conditions. All
Americans deserve to have their drinking water source protected from endangerment
under federal law.
The right balance needs to be established between oil and gas development and
protection of our precious and finite natural resources. Instead of that balance, however,
provisions of some of our most critical federal environmental laws have exemptions for
oil and gas production. In addition to the Safe Drinking Water Act, there are loopholes in
the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
These loopholes should be closed, starting with the Halliburton Loophole.
We hope you will co-sponsor this sensible and important legislation to close the
Halliburton Loophole in the Safe Drinking Water Act.
Signed,
National Organizations
American Rivers
Center for Food Safety
Earthjustice
Earthworks/Oil and Gas Accountability Project
Environment America
Environmental Working Group
Food & Water Watch
International Center for Technology Assessment
National Alliance for Drilling Reform
National Audubon Society
National Wildlife Federation
Natural Resources Defense Council
Public Citizen's Energy Program
Rural Community Assistance Partnership, Inc.
The Wilderness Society
Waterkeeper Alliance
Regional Organizations
Appalachian Mountain Club
Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Delaware River Greenway Partnership
Delaware Riverkeeper Network
Greater Yellowstone Coalition
Highlands Coalition
Housatonic Valley Association
Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service
San Juan Citizens Alliance
Regional Organizations, Continued
Western Environmental Law Center
Western Organization of Resource Councils
WildEarth Guardians
State Organizations
Alabama
Black Warrior Riverkeeper
Arizona
Environment Arizona
Arkansas
Arkansas Conservation Alliance
Citizens Against Resource Exploitation (CARE)
Omni Center for Peace, Justice & Ecology
California
Ballona Network
Californians for Western Wilderness
Environment California
Grassroots Coalition
Colorado
Colorado Environmental Coalition
EcoFlight
Environment Colorado
Grand Valley Citizens Alliance
Majors Ranch Property Owners Association Environmental Impact Committee
Navajo Ranch Clean Water Preservation Committee
North Fork Ranch Landowner's Association
San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council
San Luis Valley Water Protection Coalition
The Citizen's Alliance for Responsible Urban Gas Drilling
Western Colorado Congress
Wilderness Workshop
Connecticut
Environment Connecticut
Florida
Environment Florida
Georgia
Citizens Organized for Pipeline Safety (COPS)
Environment Georgia
Illinois
Environment Illinois
Iowa
Environment Iowa
Louisiana
Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper
Maine
Environment Maine
Maryland
Environment Maryland
Massachusetts
Environment Massachusetts
Michigan
Citizens Against Environmental Destruction
Environment Michigan
Minnesota
Environment Minnesota
Montana
Environment Montana
Northern Plains Resource Council
Nevada
Environment Nevada
New Hampshire
Environment New Hampshire
New Jersey
Environment New Jersey
New Mexico
Blancett Ranches
Common Ground United
Drilling Santa Fe
Environment New Mexico
Gila Resources Information Project
New Mexico Environmental Law Center
New Mexico Wildlife Federation
Velasquez Ranch
New York
Atlantic States Legal Foundation, Inc.
Binghamton Regional Sustainability Coalition
Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy
Catskill Mountainkeeper
Citizens Campaign for the Environment
Environment New York
Environmental Advocates of New York
Hudson Highlands Land Trust
Hudson Riverkeeper
New Yorkers for Sustainable Energy Statewide
Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York, Inc.
NYH2O
Orange County Land Trust
Orange Environment, Inc.
PlanPutnam.Org
Putnam County Coalition to Preserve Open Space
Scenic Hudson
Shaleshock
The Ramapo River Watershed Intermunicipal Council
Theodore Gordon Flyfishers, Inc.
North Carolina
Environment North Carolina
North Dakota
Dakota Resource Council
Ohio
East Shore Unitarian Universalist Church, Environmental Action Group
Environment Ohio
Mentor Lagoons Preservation Committee
Northeast Ohio Gas Accountability Project
Oregon
Environment Oregon
Pennsylvania
Allegheny Defense Project
Berks County Conservancy
Cooks Creek Watershed Association
Damascus Citizens for Sustainability
Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds
Gaia Defense League
Green Valleys Association
Juniata Valley Audubon
Mountain Watershed Association
PennEnvironment
Pennsylvania Forest Coalition
Pennsylvania Organization for Watersheds and Rivers
Sagamore Estates Property Owners Association
Schmid & Company, Inc., Consulting Ecologists
Twin & Walker Creeks Watershed Conservancy
Twin and Walker Lakes Communities Coalition
Twin and Walker Lakes Watershed Conservancy
Twin Lake Preserve
Twin Lake Woods Property Owners Association
Twin Lakes Conservancy Inc.
Twin Lakes Property Owners Association
Walker Lake Landowner's Association
Youghiogheny Riverkeeper
Rhode Island
Environment Rhode Island
Texas
Blue Wind Partners
Citizens for Environmental Clean-Up
Environment Texas
Family Area Ministry & Education
Flower Mound Citizens Against Urban Drilling
Fort Worth Citizens Against Neighborhood Drilling Operations (FWCanDo)
Galveston Baykeeper
PARCHED
Texas Oil and Gas Accountability Project
Unity Church of Fort Worth
WE CAN (Working Effectively for Clean Air Now)
Utah
Colorado Riverkeeper
Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance
Virginia
Blackwater Nottoway Riverkeeper Program
Environment Virginia
Washington
Environment Washington
West Virginia
Greenbrier River Watershed Association
West Virginia Citizen Action Group
West Virginia Headwaters Waterkeeper
West Virginia Rivers Coalition
West Virginia Surface Owners' Rights Organization
Wetzel County Action Group
Wisconsin
Environment Wisconsin
Wyoming
Biodiversity Conservation Alliance
Clark Resource Council
Equality State Policy Center
Friends of a Legacy
Pavillion Area Concerned Citizens
Powder River Basin Resource Council
Upper Green River Valley Coalition
Wyoming Conservation Voters
Wyoming Outdoor Council
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3 comments:
This is just another method by which groups such as yours and environmentally-motivated groups are attacking the industry. The environmental groups are attacking because they want to eliminate drilling entirely, and you want to eliminate it around you (although most of the time you come off so abrasively towards the industry that you appear as though you want to eliminate drilling entirely).
When you take the unfounded claims out of it, there is quite a bit of science, engineering, and plain ole common sense that disprove the claims.
First and foremost, fracturing has been done for 50 years, with NO PROOF of groundwater being contaminated by it's means. Yes, there are ALWAYS reports, but show me one in which it was proven to be caused by hydraulic fracturing.
Secondly, the vast majority of usable groundwater is 1,000 feet deep or shallower. Hydraulic fracturing is taking place in the Barnett Shale at a MINIMUM depth of 6,000 feet. It is probably about 7,500 feet on average. And the Barnett Shale is considered shallow for a shale formation.
You tell me how groundwater that is located 1,000 feet or less from the surface can be contaminated by fluid being pumped to a minimum of 6,000 feet below the surface. This of course assumes a properly cased hole, which is the case in every producing oil and gas well.
You let me know when you figure out how frac fluid is going to travel vertically 5,000 feet at a minimum through formation after formation, reservoir after reservoir, through countless layers of impermeable cap rock. Because it damn sure is not getting through the surface casing designed to protect the water table.
Please, I challenge someone to enlighten me as to how this is possible. Until then, I, along with countless others, will call bull$@%^ to the claim.
Hi there, Houston! I see you like to get around. ;-) I guess I wouldn't be wrong if I said, "I bet you say that to all the girls."
Is this what you learned when you got that marketing degree? You type up a brilliant, well-reasoned argument to cut-and-paste it around the net. Hmmm...How's that working for you buddy?
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