ANTI-ENVIRO - drinking water: Hydraulic fracturing excemption Gets EPA

[papau]

study approval.

BUT - - It seems we got ourselves an anti-Bush , pro-environment, whistle-blower in the form of Weston Wilson, an environmental engineer and 30-year EPA veteran in Denver, who has applied for whistle-blower protection (!!!) and sent an 18-page statement (saying findings were premature, scientifically unsound, contrary to the purposes of the law (N.B., in 1977 the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that fracturing should be regulated under the federal drinking water law and in 99 ordered EPA to regulate), may endanger public health, and were approved by an industry-dominated review panel that included a current Halliburton employee) sent to the EPA's IG and some Congresspersons.

This could be interesting!


http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-na-fr...

Halliburton's Interests(ANTI-ENVIRO Hydraulic fracturing)Assisted by White House
The administration has lent support to a lucrative drilling technique. Some in the EPA consider it an environmental concern.
By Tom Hamburger and Alan C. Miller Times Staff Writers October 14, 2004

WASHINGTON — Over the last four years, the Bush administration and Vice President Dick Cheney's office have backed a series of measures favoring a drilling technique developed by Halliburton Co., Cheney's former employer.

The technology, known as hydraulic fracturing, boosts gas and oil production and generates $1.5 billion a year for the company, about one-fifth of its energy-related revenue. In recent years, Halliburton and other oil and gas firms have been fighting efforts to regulate the procedure under a statute that protects drinking water supplies.

The 2001 national energy policy report, written under the direction of the vice president's office, cited the value of hydraulic fracturing but didn't mention concerns raised by staff members at the Environmental Protection Agency.

Since then, the administration has taken steps to keep the practice from being regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act, which Halliburton has said would hurt its business and add needless costs and bureaucratic delays.

An EPA study concluded in June that there was no evidence that hydraulic fracturing posed a threat to drinking water. However, some EPA employees complained about the study internally before its completion, and others have strongly criticized it publicly since its release.<snip>