Fracking Failure: Frackers In Pennsylvania Violate Health And Environmental Regulations On A Daily Basis
1/31/2015

From the American Petroleum Institute’s claim that fracking is “safely unlocking vast U.S. reserves of oil and natural gas” to Chris “Frack Master” Faulkner himself insisting “fracking isn’t contaminating anything,” the oil and gas industry constantly tells us that fracking can be done safely, despite plenty of evidence to the contrary.

But just to be sure the public understands how seriously they considered public health, a group of oil and gas companies fracking in Pennsylvania formed the Center for Sustainable Shale Development in 2013. According to its website, CSSD is dedicated to “the development of rigorous performance standards for sustainable shale development and a commitment to continuous improvement to ensure safe and environmentally responsible development of our abundant shale resources.”

“Rigorous performance standards for sustainable shale development” certainly sounds great. The only problem is, none of the four companies that founded CSSD — Chevron Appalachia, Consol Energy, EQT Production and Shell — seems to have actually adhered to those standards.

According to a new report by Environment America titled “Fracking Failures: Oil and Gas Industry Environmental Violations in Pennsylvania and What They Mean for the U.S.,” ever since those four companies “told the public they would adhere to higher standards” in 2013, they have collectively committed as many as 100 violations of Pennsylvania’s existing oil and gas regulations.

And that is hardly the whole story in terms of what Environment America found: “In Pennsylvania, fracking companies violate rules and regulations meant to protect the environment and human health on virtually a daily basis. Between January 1, 2011, and August 31, 2014, the top 20 offending fracking companies committed an average of 1.5 violations per day.”

Disregarding regulations appears to be an industry-wide practice: Among the top 10 violators are subsidiaries of Big Oil behemoths like ExxonMobil and Shell as well as smaller companies like Cabot Oil & Gas and Chesapeake Appalachia.

Here is a chart listing the top 20 violators of Pennsylvania’s oil and gas regulations:



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http://www.desmogblog.com/2015/01/31/frackers-pennsylvania-violate-health-and-safety-regulations-daily-basis