Experts Cast Doubt On EPA Fracking Investigation

Government analysts say the U.S. EPA’s investigation into the effects of fracking on drinking water may lack scientific credibility.

The environmental agency released a landmark report last year that appeared to promote the controversial notion that fracking does not endanger drinking water. Fracking supporters celebrated the EPA’s announcement in June that it “did not find evidence that these mechanisms have led to widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water resources in the United States.”

Now, a new government critique — from the agency’s own experts — is questioning that assessment. “The Hydraulic Fracturing Research Advisory Panel, a unit of the EPA’s Science Advisory Board (SAB), published its evaluation of the EPA’s report on Jan. 7,” NPR reported.

The new report questioned the “clarity and adequacy of support” of several findings in the EPA’s fracking analysis. It said these findings “seek to draw national-level conclusions regarding the impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources” but that the findings are inconsistent with “the observations, data, and levels of uncertainty” in the agency’s research.

One of the biggest concerns is that the original EPA report said researchers “did not find evidence that hydraulic fracturing mechanisms have led to widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water resources in the United States.”

That’s not a perfect statement, according to the new report.

“The SAB finds that this statement does not clearly describe the system(s) of interest (e.g., groundwater, surface water) nor the definitions of ‘systemic,’ ‘widespread,’ or ‘impacts.’ The SAB is also concerned that this statement does not reflect the uncertainties and data limitations described in the body of the Report associated with such impacts. The statement is ambiguous and requires clarification and additional explanation,” the new report said.

Dave Yoxtheimer, an associate with Penn State University’s Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research, noted that the EPA’s original report is has been misinterpreted by some people, according to NPR:

Yoxtheimer said the EPA’s statement that it had found no evidence of widespread impact on water supplies may have been misinterpreted as a “green light” to proceed with fracking. But that conclusion would ignore the fact that local impacts have been, as the SAB pointed out, severe, and so a better interpretation of the EPA’s report would have been to proceed but with caution, Yoxtheimer said.

“I believe the point the EPA is trying to make is that not every well is problematic, that in fact a small percentage of wells represent a risk to water,” he said. “However, it is potentially a big issue on a local scale when something goes wrong in the process.”

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