EPA, Interior Arrive Late and Uninvited to the Fracking Party

Bernard L. Weinstein, Fort Worth 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 EPA's concern is that when fracking fluids are withdrawn from gas wells, some volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as benzene rise to the surface.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. Read More