A spokeswoman for the Environmental Working Group, a coalition of community and environmental organizations, said the panel’s draft recommendations were “disappointing.”
“They do state some obvious grievances with fracking — such as the general need for more regulation, air pollution controls and more disclosure from companies,” said Leeann Brown in an e-mail. “However, they refuse to reference the seven deadly sins of the fracking industry — the exemptions from seven major environmental and health protection laws.” (Can't find the link, but this was basically what was printed)Seven deadly sins of the fracing industry? Well that got my curiosity up, so with a little bit of research I found them, here. The basic contention is that the Oil & Gas industry "enjoys sweeping exemptions from provisions in the major federal environmental statutes intended to protect human health and the environment.
- Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
- Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
- Safe Drinking Water Act
- Clean Water Act
- Clean Air Act
- National Environmental Policy Act
- Toxic Release Inventory under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act
There they are, the seven deadly sins. You can read the paper to find out why the author, Renee Lewis Kosnik, MSEL, JD, Research Director, Oil and Gas Accountability Project (a project of Earthworks, 2007), believes these exemptions are should be done away with.
What I want to do is to try and show how an exemption or exclusion does not mean the varmint is gettin' away with somthin'. I call this blog the "Wacky World of Waste" for a reason, and that reason is because of how absurd regulations can be, especially how the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) identifies what is a hazardous waste. If you ever attend my Hazardous Waste Management course, you will hear me say two things (spoiler alert!)
- Check you logic at the door.
- It's about the definition, not the hazard.
The reason I am writing about these "seven deadly sins" is because I was made aware of them on August 11, 2010 just like many other folks who read the same syndicated article that appeared in many other newspapers. Quoting Earthworks' Leeann Brown's contention that the oil and gas industry "refuses to reference" these exemptions implies that there is something sinister going on.
If you take Earthworks word for it, there is. But is there?
First of all, lets get one thing straight. There are a lot of reasons for providing an industry or activity an exemption. Sometimes they are purely political, but most of the time there are sound reasons for doing so. The bottom line question that must always be asked is does the exemption contribute to the problem or is it benign?
In the case of Oil & Gas, Earthworks contention is that these seven exemptions are allowing this industry "to streamline their piracy and contamination of the American public." In other words, if we were to do away with these exemptions and exclusions, oil and gas would no longer be legally allowed to "contaminate" our land, air, and water. This statement by Earthworks implies that the Oil & Gas industry is at this very moment unfettered by any laws and regulations regarding environmental contamination and pollution.
That is untrue.
Let's look at Texas. Texas, as you might expect is very - and I mean VERY - Oil & Gas Friendly. So Friendly in fact that they allow Oil & Gas to be regulated not by the State's EPA, the TCEQ, but by an industry loving Rail Road Commission (RRC). Surely under this cozy relationship Oil & Gas would be allowed to do what ever it pleases in pursuit of good ol' Texas T.
So let's look at how Texas Regulates Oil & Gas under the RRC: (Source)
In Texas, fracing is not formally regulated. The only regulations that apply to fracing operations also apply to all other oil and gas operations. The RRC promulgates and enforces regulations related to oil and gas matters and has jurisdiction over all “oil and gas wells in Texas; persons owning or operating pipelines in Texas; and persons owning or engaging in drilling or operating oil or gas wells in Texas.
Like all oil and gas development in Texas, fracing operations require the RRC to issue a permit authorizing drilling and/or deepening of a well.
Besides the standard permitting, two key areas where the RRC’s regulations have an impact on fracing operations (other than standard permitting):
- 16 TAC § 3.8 “Water Protection”
- 16 TAC §3.13 “Casing, Cementing, Drilling, and Completion Requirements.”
In addition to permitting regulation, §3.8 also regulates the storage, transfer and disposal of oil and gas wastes. Presumptively, this includes any fracing fluids that are brought back to the surface as part of oil and gas production.
Earthworks contends that the "seven deadly sins" allow Oil & Gas to "contaminate the American public" by allowing "toxic chemicals and hazardous wastes [to permeate] the soil, water sources and the air threatening human health to an alarming extent." (1)
Well here is what 16 TAC § 3.8 “Water Protection” has to say about that:
(b) No pollution. No person conducting activities subject to regulation by the commission may cause or allow pollution of surface or subsurface water in the state.
That, by the way, is the first regulation you come to after "(a) definitions." Now let's look at how Texas defines "pollution:"
(a)(28) Pollution of surface or subsurface water--The alteration of the physical, thermal, chemical, or biological quality of, or the contamination of, any surface or subsurface water in the state that renders the water harmful, detrimental, or injurious to humans, animal life, vegetation, or property, or to public health, safety, or welfare, or impairs the usefulness or the public enjoyment of the water for any lawful or reasonable purpose.
In Texas, Oil & Gas is regulated quite significantly by the RRC (2). If Texan's don't allow the Oil & Gas industry to pollute under their industry friendly regulations, isn't it quite possible that federal regulations prohibit the same thing?
Basically it comes down to this: If the Oil & Gas industry is prohibited from causing or allowing "pollution of surface or subsurface water in the state" would removing those seven exemptions and exclusions change anything?
The need for additional permitting or regulation will not stop something that is not there in the first place. If, as Earthworks contends, Oil & Gas is allowing "toxic chemicals and hazardous wastes [to permeate] the soil, water sources and the air threatening human health to an alarming extent," why is this being allowed to happen under current law?
It is not happening.
And if any company sets out to operate in a way that does threaten public health or the environment, no amount of permitting, rules, regulations, or laws will stop them. So for these bad apples, inspection and enforcement is the only option - unless you propose throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
In her report, Earthwork's Renee Lewis Kosnik writes: "it is time regulators focus on the adequacy of existing regulations to protect human health and the environment from the real and potential dangers of the oil and gas industry’s waste." Well they have:
"The [RRC] commission's strict rules in effect now on how wells are constructed have protected and continue to protect groundwater. The decades-long safety record on fracking in Texas backs this up." (3)
But what about Jefferson County, Alabama's Peg Hocutt "mysterious ailments affecting everyone in the area and tap water that smelled of petroleum?"
Yeah...about that...
Next post: Seven Deadly Sins: 22 years ago there was a problem.
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