EPA holds public hearing in Pittsburgh to discuss “fracking” air pollution regulations

On September 27^th, 2011 EPA held a hearing to discuss the public opinion regarding the regulations to be placed on air pollution generated from oil and gas drilling operations. This hearing is one of several hearings to be held at various locations throughout the nation, including Denver and Arlington, Texas. These new EPA regulations to take effect in the spring of 2012 require that gas-drilling companies capture the emitted gas pollution.  The new pollution control standards would apply to about 25,000 gas wells that are hydraulically fractured each year. As the drillers are allowed to sell this gas, the EPA estimates that it will save the industry about $30 million annually. Several members of PSEC attended the meeting and spoke out against the natural gas rush in PA, and the lack of proper regulations on the “fracking” industry. PSEC members as well as many citizens expressed serious concerns about air pollution resulting from drilling. While welcoming the new EPA regulations, PSEC and most attending citizens asked that even stronger regulatory measures be placed on gas drilling pollution. The first to speak at the hearing was Howard Feldman, the director of regulatory and scientific affairs at the American Petroleum Institute. Mr. Feldman claimed that the industry is not opposed to the regulatory measures to be implemented. He asserted that the “EPA has done a good job on the rule. We think it’s pretty reasonable,” “We just need a few more accommodations to make this work smoothly.” He also asked that the EPA extend the public comment period and provide companies with a one-year extension to comply with the new regulations. Kathryn Klaber, the president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, said that there is a “a lot more work to do” on the proposed EPA regulations. She stressed that complying immediately with the rules could, place a heavy burden on industry.

 Despite the fact that representatives of the industry continued to claim that there are no real public health issues associated with the gas drilling industry, citizens and environmental groups such as PSEC, PennEnvironment, and the Environmental Defense Fund stressed that no delays should be made in implementing these basic and vastly overdue air pollution regulations. Drilling activities were identified as the single largest source of ozone precursor pollutants in Colorado in 2008, and storage tanks used for the production of gas in Texas were noted to be the largest source of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the state. Additionally, the VOC and nitrogen pollutants released due to gas production in the Barnett Shale have bee identified by scientists as being comparable to all vehicular emissions in the Dallas Forth-Worth metro region.

Based on these public hearings, EPA will decide whether and when to impose air quality regulations on the “fracking” industry. PSEC remains hopeful that the EPA will stand up to its mission of protecting the environment and human public health, and implement stringent air pollution regulations on gas drilling emissions.

Dee Seneviratne

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