Lawsuit Forces Federal Transparency On Subsea Fracking

The U.S. government has settled a lawsuit with a nonprofit group over data on subsea fracking in the Gulf of Mexico, which critics say poses a major threat to groundwater.

The Center for Biological Diversity, a nonprofit conservation group, “has stated that it has successfully gained the release of federal documents relating to subsea fracking in the Gulf of Mexico from the U.S. Government after going through Washington D.C. District Court,” Offshore Technology recently reported.

The government had resisted turning over certain data in response to Freedom of Information Act requests from the nonprofit.

“Under the new agreement, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement are required to turn over permits, reports, emails and other documents related to the federal government’s approval for oil and gas companies to frack offshore wells in the Gulf,” the nonprofit announced.

According to the environmental group and other critics, oil and gas companies are dumping fracking chemicals and fracking waste straight into the water in the Gulf. They say the amount dumped is not tracked.

The group also says that the government allowed companies to frack “at least 115 offshore wells in 2013” without revealing “the amount of subsea shale extraction,” Offshore Technology reported. The oil and gas industry argues that fracking is safe.

Deepsea fracking off the U.S., South American, and African coasts represents the “next frontier” in offshore drilling, according to Bloomberg. “The technique is widely condemned as a source of groundwater contamination. The question now is how will that debate play out as the equipment moves out into the deep blue. For now, caution from all sides is the operative word,” the report said.

Kristen Monsell, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, explained the significance of the recent government settlement.

“Offshore fracking has been shrouded in secrecy, but this settlement will finally force the government to tell us where oil companies are using this toxic technique,” she said. “Fracking pollution is a huge threat to marine animals, and the high pressures used to frack offshore wells increase the risk of another devastating oil spill. This inherently dangerous activity just doesn’t belong in the Gulf of Mexico.”

For the latest developments in fracking, visit Water Online’s Produced Water Treatment Solutions Center.