Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
icals they use because they are trade secrets, energy groups vehemently deny
they are hiding anything nefarious. This special exemption for hydrofracking, re-
portedly inserted by Vice President Dick Cheney, a former CEO of Halliburton,
was dubbed “the Halliburton Loophole” by opponents.
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One industry group, Energy in Depth (EID), maintains that state regulations
governing hydrofracking fluids are robust, and that there is no need for federal
oversight. “Getting the public to believe that hydraulic fracturing is essentially un-
regulated is critical to some folks' strategy of shutting it down,” EID writes. “But
here's the truth: States have regulated the fracturing process for more than six dec-
ades now, and by any legitimate measure have complied an impressive record of
enforcement in that time … (hydrofracking) has never in its nearly 65-year history
been regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act.… If a bill never covered you in
the first place, how can you be considered 'exempt'? Does that mean [hydrofrack-
ing companies] are exempt from Medicare Part D too?”
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EID notes that “there isn't a single 'hazardous' additive used in the fracturing
process that's hidden from public view,” adding, “So what's with all the contro-
versy over 'trade secrets'? In rare cases, a company may ask that a certain 'con-
stituent' contained within a larger 'additive' set be protected, though … under law
that information must be released to response and medical personnel in case of
emergency.… Indeed, the vast majority of these (chemical constituents) are con-
sidered 'non-hazardous' by EPA—quite the contrast from what you've read in the
papers.”
As we will see in the next chapter, there are those who strongly disagree with
this assertion.
This question, perhaps more than any other, epitomizes the public confusion and
sharp disagreement that splits the two sides of the debate over hydraulic fracturing.
Adding to the misunderstanding, regulators at the federal EPA have shifted their
position on this question.
One of the main justifications for promoting natural gas is that power plants
fueled by gas emit about half the climate-changing gases that coal-fired plants
only major nation to see significant reductions in climate-warming emissions. But
