{"id":15684,"date":"2011-02-01T13:00:03","date_gmt":"2011-02-01T21:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetsave.com\/?p=15684"},"modified":"2011-02-01T13:00:03","modified_gmt":"2011-02-01T21:00:03","slug":"fracking-violates-safe-drinking-water-act-congressional-letter-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/articles\/fracking-violates-safe-drinking-water-act-congressional-letter-charges\/","title":{"rendered":"'Fracking' Violates Safe Drinking Water Act, Congressional Letter Charges"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a>In what appears to be a major, positive stride for environmental quality preservation, congressional investigators submitted a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency charging that\u00a0 hydraulic fracturing — known as ‘fracking’ — violates the Safe Drinking Water Act<\/a>.<\/p>\n Amassing data from a dozen states for the period 2005 – 2009, investigators assert that tens of millions of gallons of diesel fuel were pumped into onshore wells as part of the fracking process which utilizes highly pressurized water, sand, and chemicals (like diesel) to fracture bedrock and release trapped oil and gas.<\/p>\n Investigators — including representative Henry Waxman of California — learned that no State or Federal permits were issued allowing for the use of diesel fuel and claimed that groundwater in these states has been put at risk.<\/p>\n Industry advocates counter that use of the industrial fuel is not illegal as the EPA never issued guidelines and\/or procedures to regulate its use. They cite a “grant from Congress” during this time period that allowed fracking and, as expected, admit no liability for any potential contamination.<\/p>\n Such claims may be supported in future lawsuits against such companies (and those in other extraction businesses) as enforcement of the Clean Air and Water Acts (and other environmental laws) was virtually non-existent, or radically undermined, for most of the two terms of George Bush. A 2004 study on fracking found no evidence of leaking or contamination. At the time, critics claimed that the integrity of the findings were compromised by political pressure from the administration.<\/p>\n