EV Fan
08-14-2014, 04:43 AM
**Republished and Permission from ProPublica
By Naveena Sadasivam ProPublica, July 29, 2014, 3:40 p.m.
Federal environment officials have failed to adequately oversee hundreds of thousands of wells used to inject toxic oil and gas drilling waste deep underground, according to a new congressional report (http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-14-555).
The report, released Monday by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, is critical of the Environmental Protection Agency's inconsistent handling of safety inspections, poor record keeping, and failure to adjust its guidelines to adapt to new risks brought by the recent boom in domestic drilling, including the understanding that injection wells are causing earthquakes.
The EPA generally agreed with the GAO's findings and characterization of the challenges the agency is currently facing.
Concerns have mounted recently about potential water contamination from injections wells. California officials have ordered an emergency shut-down (http://www.propublica.org/article/ca-halts-injection-fracking-waste-warning-may-be-contaminating-aquifers) of 11 oil and gas waste injection sites and a review of more than 100 others, out of fears that fracking fluids and other toxic waste are reaching drinking water aquifers there. Earthquakes from Ohio to Oklahoma to Texas have also been blamed on injection wells governed by the EPA's program.
More... (http://www.electricvehicleparade.com/blog/2014/8/6/report-criticizes-epa-oversight-of-injection-wells.html)
By Naveena Sadasivam ProPublica, July 29, 2014, 3:40 p.m.
Federal environment officials have failed to adequately oversee hundreds of thousands of wells used to inject toxic oil and gas drilling waste deep underground, according to a new congressional report (http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-14-555).
The report, released Monday by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, is critical of the Environmental Protection Agency's inconsistent handling of safety inspections, poor record keeping, and failure to adjust its guidelines to adapt to new risks brought by the recent boom in domestic drilling, including the understanding that injection wells are causing earthquakes.
The EPA generally agreed with the GAO's findings and characterization of the challenges the agency is currently facing.
Concerns have mounted recently about potential water contamination from injections wells. California officials have ordered an emergency shut-down (http://www.propublica.org/article/ca-halts-injection-fracking-waste-warning-may-be-contaminating-aquifers) of 11 oil and gas waste injection sites and a review of more than 100 others, out of fears that fracking fluids and other toxic waste are reaching drinking water aquifers there. Earthquakes from Ohio to Oklahoma to Texas have also been blamed on injection wells governed by the EPA's program.
More... (http://www.electricvehicleparade.com/blog/2014/8/6/report-criticizes-epa-oversight-of-injection-wells.html)