American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2016 - 149

IPAA Defends EPA Fracturing Report
WASHINGTON-The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's conclusion
announced in June that hydraulic fracturing
does not pose an inherent danger to
groundwater is valid and should not be
altered, the Independent Petroleum Association contends in a Dec. 11 letter to
EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy.
IPAA's letter, which was endorsed by
49 other oil and gas industry state and
national associations, is in response to
reports that activists are pressuring EPA's
Science Advisory Board (SAB) to change
the report's conclusion that "hydraulic
fracturing activities have not led to widespread, systemic impacts to drinking
water resources."
That conclusion in Assessment of the
Potential Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing
for Oil and Gas on Drinking Water Resources-the result of EPA's five-year investigation authorized by the 2009 Department of Interior appropriations bill-
"appropriately describes EPA's findings,
which show that while oil and natural
gas development-or, indeed, any kind of
energy development-certainly is not risk
free, the risk of water contamination is
not pervasive," IPAA writes.
But IPAA says it is concerned SAB
may be considering a revision that is not
based on science, but rather pressure
from special interest groups. It cites an
article from the Nov. 4 E&E News, which
quotes SAB Chairman David Dzomback
saying, "There is agreement the sentence
(stating there have been no widespread,

systemic impacts) needs to be modified."
E&E News also quotes Dzomback
saying the sentence may be "ambiguous
and requires clarification," IPAA points
out.
"There is nothing ambiguous about
EPA's finding," the association responds.
While IPAA acknowledges EPA found
some instances of water impacts from
related activities such as casing failures
or fluid spills, it emphasizes that the
study recognized the number of such instances "was small, compared with the
number of hydraulically fractured wells."
Scientific Consensus
IPAA reminds EPA that SAB "is a
scientific body, and thus its conclusions
should be based on science; they should
not be subject to political pressure."
And, the association continues, "EPA's
draft report is very much in line with the
scientific consensus on hydraulic fracturing. Numerous peer-reviewed studies
have shown the process poses an exceedingly low risk of impacting drinking
water sources."
IPAA's letter to McCarthy specifies
11 such studies, including reports by the
National Academy of Sciences, Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory, the Department of Energy's National Energy
Technology Laboratory, U.S. Geological
Survey, and the Government Accountability Office as well as EPA's own 2004
investigation into fracturing coalbed
methane wells, which concluded the prac-

tice "poses little or no threat to underground sources of drinking water."
"EPA's findings in its 2015 draft report
mirror what the agency has found previously, and its conclusion that there is no
evidence of widespread contamination
from hydraulic fracturing aligns with
what scientists have found repeatedly in
peer-reviewed research," the association
declares.
IPAA's letter also debunks claims by
anti-oil-and-gas activists that Assessment
of Hydraulic Fracturing suffered from
significant data limitations, was scaled
back as a result of industry influence,
and that "EPA higher-ups scuttled" inclusion of three major EPA investigations
into water contamination near drilling
sites.
On that latter, IPAA details how initial
EPA allegations regarding contamination
in December 2010 in Parker County, Tx.,
in November 2011 near Dimock, Pa.,
and in December 2011 in Pavillion, Wy.,
all were proven erroneous by further investigations, and later were withdrawn.
In conclusion, IPAA writes, "There is
nothing in the draft report . . . that suggests
EPA's finding of no widespread, systemic
groundwater impacts from hydraulic fracturing is incorrect. As a result, we urge
SAB to maintain its role as a scientific
body by rejecting calls to change its scientific findings, which are based on political campaigns, not scientific analyses
or technical reviews."
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WEST VIRGINIA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
FROM PAGE 111
"IOGAWV and other groups embraced
those changes."
However, after that, he says the association and others filed an appeal with
the Environmental Quality Board on
"how the zones of critical concern and
peripheral concern were applied." The
case was scheduled to be heard Jan. 14.
"We are interested to see how the EQB
interprets and then rules on our appeal,"
Burd remarked in December.
More than a dozen individual companies also filed appeals with the EQB,
and Burd explains those hearings are to
be heard in March, if necessary, depending
on how the board rules on the IOGAWV
et al appeal.
"We only have questioned procedures
and how the WVDEP's tank determination
process was drafted," Burd expounds.

"Part of our appeal is that the department
has been less than forthcoming on the
details of what it has done and how. Factors that should have been considered
when including tanks in one or both (critical and peripheral concern) zones are
suspect."
If the EQB rules in the association's
favor, the WVDEP would have to redetermine the zones of critical concern
"based on not only sheer distance from a
water intake, but it also would have to
factor in the topography involved, and
account for the actual distance," Burd
says.
"For example, if you draw a circle on
a map that represents a 1,000-foot radius
from a water intake, there would be some
ASTs within the zone that topographically
were not within that 1,000-foot radius at

all," he details. "We believe the WVDEP
did not take in topographical conditions
when it established these zones. That is
only one of the concerns we have with
its questionable procedure-making process.
"It is the association's opinion that if
those considerations were made, there
would be fewer tanks in zones of critical
concern, and thus fewer tanks would
need to be so heavily regulated and inspected," Burd concludes. "These are
economic considerations for our industry,
and we hope the EQB and WVDEP understand that."
Winter Meeting
IOGAWV will host its 2016 winter
meeting Feb. 2-3 at Charleston's Marriott
Hotel. Vice President and Program Chair
Scott Freshwater says the association is
JANUARY 2016 149

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