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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFracking: It's The New Wild West (and East and South and North)
We were tipped to the new fracking report by our friends over at Al Jazeera America. The full story is worth a read but here it is in a nutshell:
Four in 10 new oil and gas wells near national forests and fragile watersheds or otherwise identified as higher pollution risks escape federal inspection, unchecked by an agency struggling to keep pace with America’s drilling boom, according to an Associated Press review that shows wide state-by-state disparities in safety checks.
As for why there is no consistent state-to-state oversight (that would mean you, federal government), the stock answer is that oil and gas fracking won an exemption to federal clean water regulation under the Bush/Cheney administration, which is about what you’d expect when you hire two oil industry executives to run your national affairs.
The situation is further complicated in states where local decisions about fracking are trumped by permissive state regulations.
However, there are still a number of compliance issues that the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management oversees on federal and Native American lands, and that is where AP has focused its attention.
To reduce the federal problem down to the bare bones, you have far too many new wells, far too few public inspection resources, and an expectation that the industry can fill in the gaps.
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http://cleantechnica.com/2014/06/16/us-water-woes-add-punch-ap-fracking-report/
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NEW CASTLE, Colo. (AP) — Four in 10 new oil and gas wells near national forests and fragile watersheds or otherwise identified as higher pollution risks escape federal inspection, unchecked by an agency struggling to keep pace with America's drilling boom, according to an Associated Press review that shows wide state-by-state disparities in safety checks.
Roughly half or more of wells on federal and Indian lands weren't checked in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming, despite potential harm that has led to efforts in some communities to ban new drilling.
In New Castle, a tiny Colorado River valley community, homeowners expressed chagrin at the large number of uninspected wells, many on federal land, that dot the steep hillsides and rocky landscape. Like elsewhere in the West, water is a precious commodity in this Colorado town, and some residents worry about the potential health hazards of any leaks from wells and drilling.
"Nobody wants to live by an oil rig. We surely didn't want to," said Joann Jaramillo, 54.
About 250 yards up the hill from Jaramillo's home, on land that was a dormant gravel pit when she bought the house eight years ago, is an active drilling operation that operates every day from 7 a.m. until sometimes 10:30 p.m. Jaramillo said the drilling began about three years ago.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/15/high-risk-wells_n_5495934.html
because fracking is the greatest, most imminent environmental threat we face
