EPA Wants More Fracking Power

EPA struggling to keep pace with ‘fracking’ boom

One of two Government Accountability Office reports made public Tuesday lays out “challenges” facing regulators amid the growth of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” the development method that’s enabling major oil and natural-gas production increases.

“Officials at EPA reported that conducting inspection and enforcement activities for oil and gas development from unconventional reservoirs is challenging due to limited information, as well as the dispersed nature of the industry and the rapid pace of development,” the report states. Problems facing EPA include a frequent lack of “baseline” water-quality data that makes it hard to gauge alleged groundwater contamination, and overall difficulty tracking the development boom, the report states.
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The report also describes limits on EPA’s legal authorities, as well as challenges facing other federal and state regulators.

“For example, EPA officials in headquarters and Regional offices told us that the exclusion of exploration and production waste from hazardous waste regulations under [the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act] significantly limits EPA’s role in regulating these wastes,” the report states.

Environmentalists and a number of Capitol Hill Democrats say that federal regulators need a stronger hand when overseeing the industry.

Currently, fracking, and any wastes are under state control.  The EPA is desperate  to find an excuse to regulate the industry and restrict it, despite the fact that no significant water quality problems have resulted from the new fracking boom.  But all they need to do is scare a few congressmen into giving them the power to regulate fracking, and they'll get to put their hand around the throat of the new gas supply which threatens to make the United States an energy powerhouse.