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Tainted EPA Report on Fracking Blasted by Gas Co.
Environmental Protection Agency Strikes Gas! That should have been the headline last week that instead ran as EPA says fracking may be polluting groundwater. Heres the story: the EPA says tests it conducted in Pavillion, Wyoming indicate that ground water in the aquifer contains compounds likely associated with gas production practices, including hydraulic fracturing. However, it turns out that the EPA drilled two monitoring wells to some 900 feet much deeper than water wells which are usually at about 300 feet and indeed found hydrocarbons. In short, they drilled into the natural gas reservoir that has long attracted industry producers. It may the single most productive moment in EPA history. The United States has stumbled upon an enormous gift almost unlimited supplies of natural gas -- that are available because of advances in technology. Improved methods of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, used to recover hitherto trapped hydrocarbons in certain rock formations, mean that natural gas could be substituted for other fuels currently used to generate electricity or heat our homes. This could accomplish what many presidents have promised but none has delivered important strides towards energy independence. Though natural gas cannot easily displace our use of oil for transportation, it can dampen that demand at the margin. Approximately one third of our oil is consumed by 18-wheelers; conversion of truck and lighter vehicle fleets to natural gas would take some time and investment but would leave our air cleaner and our pocketbooks fatter. Posted by: Beavis 2011-12-14 |
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