Page 20 ■ Thursday, March 29, 2012


NATION & WORLD


BAKKEN BREAKOUT WEEKLY


Associated Press


In this 2011 fi le photo, the sun shines over a Range Resources well site in Washington, Pa. The company is one of many drilling into the Marcellus Shale layer deep underground and “fracking” the area to release natural gas.


Audit: Gas lines tied to fracking lack oversight


By GARANCE BURKE Associated Press


SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Govern- ment auditors say federal offi cials know nothing about thousands of miles of pipelines that carry natural gas released through the drilling method known as fracking, and need to step up oversight to make sure they are running safely. Amid the gas-drilling boom, private


gathering pipelines ferry the gas and oil to processing facilities and larger pipe- lines in the major energy-producing states. Many of these pipelines course through densely populated areas, in- cluding neighborhoods in Fort Worth, Texas.


companies have put in hundreds of small gathering pipelines in recent years to col- lect new fuel supplies released through the high-pressure drilling technique.


fi ce said in its report issued March 22 that most of those miles are not regu- lated by the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, which means they are not regularly inspected for leaks or corrosion.


The Government Accountability Of- Nationwide, about 240,000 miles of


where the lines are. Emily Krafjack, who lives in the gas-


In some states, offi cials don’t know


rich Marcellus Shale formation in Penn- sylvania, said many local residents have no idea that the pipelines near their homes are not overseen by federal reg- ulators. Gathering lines that run in the rural northeastern corner of the state receive no federal oversight if there are fewer than 10 homes within 220 yards of the pipeline. “Who would ever think that they


could run something like this next to your home and it wouldn’t have any reg-


ulations attached to it?,” said Krafjack, a former community liaison for Wyoming County, Pa., on gas issues. Nationwide, there are about 200,000


miles of gas gathering lines and up to 40,000 miles of hazardous liquid gather- ing lines in rural and urban areas alike, ranging in diameter from about 2 to 12 inches. But only about 24,000 of those miles are regulated, according to the re- port.


pipeline-related fatality, injury or prop- erty damage information about the un-


Continued on next page The industry is not required to report


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