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A Brief History of Why the EPA (Currently) Does Not Regulate Hydraulic Fracturing

U.S. Senator Bob Casey (Democrat, Pennsylvania), recently re-introduced legislation he calls the FRAC Act—Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals. The legislation as proposed would do two things: (1) Put the industry practice of hydraulic fracturing, something that’s been happening for 60 years, under the oversight of the federal Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”); and (2) require all drilling companies to publicly disclose all of the chemicals used in the process of hydraulic fracturing.

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Arkansas Officials Claim Injection Wells Used for Wastewater are Causing Earthquakes

How do drilling companies dispose of drilling wastewater? In Pennsylvania and other locations, drillers recycle much of the wastewater (or fracking fluid) by mixing it with new water and reusing it. Some drillers are recycling 100 percent of their wastewater. But in some areas, drillers use a method called injection wells—pumping the wastewater down deep wells created specifically for disposing of it—in a place where it will not rise back to the surface.

Injection wells are being used in another shale formation, the Fayetteville Shale, in Arkansas. And use of those wells has caused some controversy. Some believe injection wells in Arkansas have led to earthquakes in the area.

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New Marcellus Shale Pipeline Coming to Southwestern PA, Northern WV

Momentum, a company that focuses on “midstream” oil and gas assets, has signed on Chesapeake Energy and Statoil as customers for a new Marcellus Shale natural gas pipeline they are constructing in northern WV and southwestern PA.

From the press release:

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