and gas reserves] but we are not reac- tionary if contamination is found.” DOGGR is developing a regulatory proposal that will include definitions, well construction and reporting require- ments, Habel said. Officials also would like to know how fracking might affect the seismic activity of a given area. “California geology is very com-
Example of Hydraulic Fracturing for Oil & Gas
plex,” he said. “We have a lot of faults and folding. We have to know the geology [where fracking occurs].” Drillers access the “producing horizon” of oil through vertical and sometimes horizontal drilling. The thickness of the rock means the fracking process opens up fissures. That is a concern because regulators don’t want the fracking mixture ending up where it doesn’t belong. “We say if you are going to frack a well, we want to make sure the fractures aren’t being conducted to other wells,” Habel said. “We have to make sure the faults are not conduits for liquids.” Habel said the rules must strike the right balance between protect- ing people and the environment and enabling industry to do its job, he said. “The key, we think, is to make sure fracking fluid is limited to just the zone of intent so we can make sure the fluid injected has no impact to freshwater,” he said.
DOGGR’s regulations offer California the “opportunity to do it better than has been done back east,” where regulators addressed fracking after the fact, said David Albright, manager of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Region IX’s ground water office in San Francisco. Albright said EPA, the Department of Energy and the Department of the Interior are preparing a research plan for fracking that will include analysis of potential impacts to drinking water, the potential for spills and wastewater treatment. The agency oversees water quality through the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) but does not directly regulate fracking except where diesel fuel is used. The draft is scheduled to be released in October.
Source: Water Education Foundation 6 Western Water
“EPA does not have authority under the SDWA to regulate fracking but whatever is produced, those fluids are covered by the SDWA as a class two activity,” Albright said. “If it’s discharged on the surface it would need a Clean Water Act permit, but solely the injection – that is exempted from SDWA coverage.” According to EPA’s ongoing study plan, its purpose “is to elucidate the relationship, if any, between hydraulic fracturing and drinking water resources. More specifically, the study has been designed to assess the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources and to identify the driving factors that affect the severity and frequency of any impacts.” EPA will examine the potential impacts of large volume water with- drawals from ground and surface waters on drinking water resources, the pos- sible impacts of surface spills of fracking fluids, flowback and produced waters on or near well pads on drinking water supplies, as well as the possible impacts of the injection and fracturing process and the possible impacts of inadequate treatment of fracking wastewater. Environmentalists want fracking stopped until the risks to groundwater are better understood.
“Our position in California is the same as our national position: no new fracking should take place until effective safeguards are established to protect public health and the envi- ronment,” Nagami wrote in a July 23 letter to DOGGR. “California has no regulations in place that are specific to the practice of fracking. Moreover, regulations currently on the books … do not fully protect public health and the environment from the impacts of fracking.”
NRDC and others say it should be known where fracking occurs, how much water is used, which chemicals are used and in what amount and how wastewater is processed.
Fracking has been in the news in Southern California, where oil drill- ing operations occur within fairly close proximity to residential areas.