EPA report: Fracking can affect drinking water

In its final report on how hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is affecting water supplies, the U.S Environmental Protection Agency said the common oil and gas drilling technology can, in fact, contaminate drinking water supplies. The report was released earlier this week. New Mexico has tens of thousands of oil and gas wells in the northwestern […]

EPA report: Fracking can affect drinking water

In its final report on how hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is affecting water supplies, the U.S Environmental Protection Agency said the common oil and gas drilling technology can, in fact, contaminate drinking water supplies.

The report was released earlier this week.

New Mexico has tens of thousands of oil and gas wells in the northwestern and southeastern parts of the state. And while the practice has received more public attention in recent years, companies have used the technology here for decades.

During the process, operators inject wells with chemicals, including hydrochloric acid, petroleum distillates, ethanol, sodium chloride and trimethylbenzene. Those chemicals, when mixed with sand and water, create and hold open fissures, which allows oil and gas to reach the wellhead.

Wastewater can include not only fossil fuels and chemicals, but also salts like sulfate and magnesium; metals like barium and strontium; benzene and xylenes; and radioactive materials.

Related: Commission approves water plans amid backdrop of falling water supply

The report’s authors note that between 2000 and 2013, about 3,900 public water systems nationwide—serving more than 8.6 million people—had at least one hydraulically fractured well within one mile of their water source.

More than 40 percent of Americans’ drinking water comes from underground water sources—and in New Mexico, that number is even higher. Much of the state’s drinking water, for cities and rural communities, comes from groundwater. This includes Albuquerque, the state’s largest city.

The EPA’s final report includes information about the entire cycle, from when the water is pumped, through the chemical mixing and injecting processes, to the disposal or reuse of wastewater.

Among the report’s findings:

  • Compared to total water use, hydraulic fracturing uses relatively small amounts of water. But pumping for industry can affect the quality and quantity of drinking water by changing the balance between supplies and demands. This is most serious in places where groundwater resources are limited or declining.
  • Fluids spilled during the mixing stage have been found to reach surface water sources— and have the potential to reach groundwater.
  • In some places, fluids have contaminated underground drinking water during the drilling and injection phases of operations. This usually happens because of mechanical failures. Drillers can reduce the frequency and severity of these problems by making sure wells are encased in multiple layers of cement and that underground drinking water and fractured rock formations are separated by thousands of feet of rock.
  • In some cases, wastewater spills have reached surface water and groundwater supplies.
  • Storing or disposing of wastewater in aboveground pits has affected surface waters and groundwater in some places. Lined and unlined pits can both leak, and unlined pits in particular allow contamination to directly reach groundwater.
  • Of the more than 1,600 chemicals EPA identified, 173 of those are toxic when ingested over periods of time. The long-term effects of more than 1,400 of the chemicals companies sometimes use have yet to be studied.

What the frack?

The EPA’s final study has been a long time coming.

More than two decades ago, residents sued the agency to mandate regulation of fracking after drinking water in Alabama was contaminated by a nearby well. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in the citizens’ favor and ordered the EPA to study whether the practice was a public health threat and should be regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Initial studies showed the practice could contaminate water. But in 2001, then-Vice President Cheney, the former CEO of Halliburton Corp., encouraged Congress to exempt the practice from regulation and pressured the EPA to alter its studies.

In 2004, the agency released its first study, which stated the practice did not pose a threat to drinking water—because citizens were unable to prove contamination didn’t come from a different source—and so did not require regulation or more studies.



After that study was released, one of the EPA’s employees involved in the study sent a letter and 18 pages of technical analysis to his congressional representatives. In his letter, environmental engineer Weston Wilson wrote that the study caused him and several of his peers “great concern.” In that 2004 letter, he wrote:

While EPA’s report concludes this practice poses little or no threat to underground sources of drinking water, based on the available science and literature, EPA’s conclusions are unsupportable. EPA has conducted limited research reaching the unsupported conclusion that this industry practice needs no further study at this time. EPA decisions were supported by a Peer Review Panel; however five of the seven members of the panel appear to have conflicts-of-interest and may benefit from EPA’s decision not to conduct further investigations or impose regulatory conditions.

With help from the nonprofit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, Wilson at the time sought whistleblower protection to avoid retaliation from the agency.

Over the next decade, the EPA continued studying the issues around hydraulic fracturing and drinking water, looking at cases in places like Colorado, North Dakota, Pennsylvania and Texas.

The draft report was released in 2015. In that report, the agency noted practices had the potential to affect above- and belowground water resources, but said the practice had not led to “widespread, systemic” impacts to drinking water.

We're ad free

That means that we rely on support from readers like you. Help us keep reporting on the most important New Mexico Stories by donating today.

Related

Emily’s List endorses seven candidates for Legislature

Emily’s List endorses seven candidates for Legislature

Emily’s List, a nonprofit that supports women candidates and reproductive rights, endorsed seven incumbents facing general election opponents in New Mexico legislative elections. All…
Equality New Mexico endorses 15 legislative candidates

Equality New Mexico endorses 15 legislative candidates

A New Mexico-based LGBTQ rights organization endorsed 15 candidates for state House and Senate seats for the 2024 elections.  Marshall Martinez, executive director of…
Lujan Grisham pocket vetoes two bills

Lujan Grisham pocket vetoes two bills

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham pocket vetoed two bills the legislature passed this legislative session: one changing the Cybersecurity Act and the other concerning law…
BLM announces final methane waste rule

BLM announces final methane waste rule

The federal Bureau of Land Management announced its final methane waste rule on Wednesday. These new regulations clamp down on the practice of venting…
What consumers, farmers should know about the flu impacting dairy cows

What consumers, farmers should know about the flu impacting dairy cows

Migrating birds appear to have caused a virus in dairy cattle that is causing reduced milk production. So far, the disease, which initially started…
Republicans seek to limit national monument designations

Republicans seek to limit national monument designations

Republican-backed legislation in the U.S. Congress would make it harder for the government to designate new national monuments. The proposed Congressional Oversight of the…
Amid new graduation requirements, what do high schoolers want to learn?

Amid new graduation requirements, what do high schoolers want to learn?

By Margaret O’Hara, The Santa Fe New Mexican The main things that bring Brayan Chavez to school every day: Seeing, talking to and engaging with…
Special ed teachers hope lawmakers OK pay raises, admin changes

Special ed teachers hope lawmakers OK pay raises, admin changes

By Margaret O’Hara, The Santa Fe New Mexican Brittany Behenna Griffith has a laundry list of adjectives to describe the ideal special education teacher:…
Lawmakers must find consensus on competing education spending plans

Lawmakers must find consensus on competing education spending plans

By Margaret O’Hara, The Santa Fe New Mexican A challenging task awaits New Mexico lawmakers in the next 30 days: Reconciling three very different…
Health workers fear it’s profits before protection as CDC revisits airborne transmission

Health workers fear it’s profits before protection as CDC revisits airborne transmission

Amy Maxmen, KFF Health News Four years after hospitals in New York City overflowed with covid-19 patients, emergency physician Sonya Stokes remains shaken by…
Lujan Grisham, Biden admin announce $10 million in federal funds for tribes, pueblos

Lujan Grisham, Biden admin announce $10 million in federal funds for tribes, pueblos

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Friday $10 million in funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act was awarded to six tribal nations and…
Proposal to curb executive powers moves to House Judiciary

Proposal to curb executive powers moves to House Judiciary

The House Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee discussed a potential constitutional amendment that seeks to limit the governor’s executive powers. The committee approved…
U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

The U.S. Supreme Court heard the case about the regulations around mifepristone, one of a two-step regime for abortion medication, on Tuesday. FDA v.…
At stake in mifepristone case: Abortion, FDA’s authority, and return to 1873 obscenity law

At stake in mifepristone case: Abortion, FDA’s authority, and return to 1873 obscenity law

Lawyers from the conservative Christian group that won the case to overturn Roe v. Wade are returning to the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday in pursuit…
Supreme Court to hear two abortion cases this spring

Supreme Court to hear two abortion cases this spring

Later this month, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the case against the abortion medication mifepristone. It will hear a second…
New Mexico Medicaid to cover cost of over-the-counter oral contraception

New Mexico Medicaid to cover cost of over-the-counter oral contraception

New Mexico Medicaid announced on Wednesday that it will cover the cost of Opill, the first oral contraception approved for over-the-counter use. It is…
U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

The U.S. Supreme Court heard the case about the regulations around mifepristone, one of a two-step regime for abortion medication, on Tuesday. FDA v.…
At stake in mifepristone case: Abortion, FDA’s authority, and return to 1873 obscenity law

At stake in mifepristone case: Abortion, FDA’s authority, and return to 1873 obscenity law

Lawyers from the conservative Christian group that won the case to overturn Roe v. Wade are returning to the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday in pursuit…
San Juan County, Navajo Nation settle redistricting case

San Juan County, Navajo Nation settle redistricting case

The Navajo Nation and San Juan County reached an agreement Monday about commission districts after the tribe alleged that its members were not adequately…
MIT ranks NM elections most well-run in the U.S.

MIT ranks NM elections most well-run in the U.S.

New Mexico’s 2022 election was ranked most well-run in the country by Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Election Data and Science Lab’s Elections Performance Index.…
Emily’s List endorses seven candidates for Legislature

Emily’s List endorses seven candidates for Legislature

Emily’s List, a nonprofit that supports women candidates and reproductive rights, endorsed seven incumbents facing general election opponents in New Mexico legislative elections. All…
BLM announces final methane waste rule

BLM announces final methane waste rule

The federal Bureau of Land Management announced its final methane waste rule on Wednesday. These new regulations clamp down on the practice of venting…
U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

The U.S. Supreme Court heard the case about the regulations around mifepristone, one of a two-step regime for abortion medication, on Tuesday. FDA v.…
What consumers, farmers should know about the flu impacting dairy cows

What consumers, farmers should know about the flu impacting dairy cows

Migrating birds appear to have caused a virus in dairy cattle that is causing reduced milk production. So far, the disease, which initially started…

GET INVOLVED

© 2023 New Mexico Political Report