Investigation: "Fracking" Companies Illegally Injected Diesel Fuel Into Ground

Long after the natural gas drilling industry asserted that it had stopped using diesel fuel in hydraulic fracturing, drillers injected 32 million gallons of diesel fuel into the ground from 2005 to 2009 -- an apparent violation of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, according to a new Congressional investigation.

The injection of hydraulic fracturing -- or "fracking" -- fluids laced with diesel fuel into underground rock formations creates a potential problem for human health, because diesel contains benzene, a known human carcinogen.  The revelations also raise questions about how forthright drilling companies have been about their use of all kinds of chemicals in hydraulic fracturing, and how closely they should be monitored and regulated by the federal and state governments in the Chesapeake Bay region and beyond.

The investigation was conducted by U.S. Representatives Henry A. Waxman of California, Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts, and Diana DeGette of Colorado, and its conclusions were sent to EPA by letter on Monday.

“A key question is whether the unauthorized injection of hydraulic fracturing fluids containing diesel fuel is adversely affecting drinking water supplies,” the lawmakers wrote to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson.

In the hydraulic fracturing process, drilling companies inject at high pressure millions of gallons of water laced with chemicals into shale formations, cracking the rock and releasing natural gas. 

The assertion by the U.S. Representatives that the use of diesel fuel in hydraulic fracturing appears to be a violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act may be puzzling to some readers.  After all, Congress in 2005 voted to exempt hydraulic fracturing from the Safe Drinking Water Act, creating what became known as the “Halliburton Loophole” because Halliburton is a leader in the field.

However, that “Halliburton Loophole” explicitly did not cover the use of diesel fuel in hydraulic fracturing, according to the recent Congressional investigation.  Even after the loophole passed, any drilling company that performs hydraulic fracturing using diesel fuel was supposed to receive a permit from EPA under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

But the three Congressional representatives who looked into the matter discovered that “no oil and gas service companies have sought—and no state and federal regulators have issued—permits for diesel fuel use in hydraulic fracturing.”

Meanwhile, between 2005 and 2009, oil and gas service companies injected 32.2 million gallons of hydraulic fracturing fluids containing diesel fuel in wells in 19 states, according to the letter sent to EPA this week.  “Halliburton injected more than 7 million gallons of diesel fuel or fluids containing diesel; BJ Services injected even more, 11.5 million gallons,” the investigators found.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection in June 2010 published online a list of 78 chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing.  The list includes diesel, but says that its use has now been “discontinued.”

 Really? I thought the use of diesel was discontinued years ago.  Apparently it wasn't. 

If these U.S. Representatives are correct in their report, it makes you wonder:  How candid have these drilling companies really been?

By Tom Pelton

Chesapeake Bay Foundation

 

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