Federal panel urges greater tabs on 'fracking'
A report on the hydraulic fracturing process to extract natural gas from shale calls for greater disclosure and monitoring of the environmental effects.
Neela Banerjee
Los Angeles Times
08/11/2011
A federally-appointed panel recommended greater disclosure and monitoring of the environmental effects of extracting natural gas from shale formations, marking the Obama administration's first broad assessment of the controversial practice known as fracking.
A coast-to-coast shale gas boom has raised concerns about the risks to underground water supplies from hydraulic fracturing, which involves mixing sand, water and chemicals and injecting them into shale formations at high pressure to unlock the gas. Environmental groups, local residents and politicians in areas rich with shale gas have said that hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," could lead to contamination of the water table. The energy industry insists that fracking is safe.
It remains unclear whether the report, issued by an expert panel appointed by Energy Secretary Steven Chu, will calm the debate. It's also uncertain if and how its recommendations would be implemented. The administration has not seen it yet.
"The report urges industry to come clean and for scientists and regulators to do their jobs," said Benjamin Grumbles, president of the Clean Water America Alliance, an association of municipal water districts and private industry.
