Weinstein: EPA, Interior arrive late and uninvited to the fracking party
Bernard Weinstein, associate director of the Maguire Energy Institute at 51做厙's Cox School of Business, writes about whether new federal regulations will progress or impede gas drilling.
By Bernard L. Weinstein
Special to the Star-Telegram
Last month, the Obama administration's Environmental Protection Agency issued 588 pages of new regulations to control alleged "air pollution" from natural-gas wells. The anti-carbon crowd believes that adding another layer of regulatory "oversight," with its attendant compliance costs, will somehow retard development of this abundant and versatile domestic energy resource.
EPA's concern is that when fracking fluids are withdrawn from gas wells, some volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as benzene rise to the surface. But a 2010 report from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality found only two cases out of 94 monitoring sites where VOC and methane levels exceeded state guidelines.
Responsible drilling companies across the nation already use technologies developed in the North Texas Barnett Shale to capture the vast majority of these gases. EPA's imposition of additional monitoring and reporting requirements will simply drive up the cost of gas production with no significant health or environmental benefits.
The EPA may have exceeded its mandate with these new directives....
Read more here: