In this Draft Plan to Study the Potential Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing on Drinking Water Resources, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) outlines its plan for studying the potentially hazardous effects of hydraulic fracturing on sources of drinking water.
“This is about using the best possible science to do what the American people expect the EPA to do–ensure that the health of their communities and families are protected,” said Assistant Administrator for the EPA’s Office of Research Paul Anastas.
Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” a process that extracts underground natural gas, is the subject of heated debate with environmentalists claiming it will contaminate water sources and industry-insiders calling natural gas the key to a cleaner, greener and more independent American energy future.
The White House first stepped into the debate last month, after a spill at a Chesapeake Energy project in Towanda, Pennsylvania.
“Serious concerns have been raised by citizens and their representatives about the potential impact of hydraulic fracturing or drinking water, human health and the environment,” the EPA wrote on its website. “These concerns demand further study.”
The EPA selected seven locations as case studies that will serve to give raw data and hard facts about the effects of fracking, including two that will be monitored from the beginning of the process and five “retrospective” sites that have already been subject to fracking.
The prospective site-studies are:
Haynesville Shale – DeSoto Parish, LA
Marcellus Shale – Washington Country, PA
Retrospective cases:
Bakken Shale – Kildeer and Dunn Counties, ND
Barnett Shale – Wise and Denton Countries, TX
Marcellus Shale, Bradford and Susquehannah Counties, PA
Marcellus Shale, Washington County, PA
Raton Basin, Las Animas County, CO