Science Advisory Board Tells EPA To Reexamine Fracking Report
By Peak Johnson
The U.S. EPA concluded recently in a study that the practice of fracking causes no widespread harm to drinking water. However, the agency is coming under scrutiny from within because of it.
The independent Science Advisory Board said that the current draft of the study has some issues. According to the advisors, the conclusions from the EPA are “comprehensive but lacking in several critical areas.”
“We did not find evidence that these mechanisms have led to widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water resources in the United States,” the EPA’s report said, adding that while there had been isolated problems, they were “small compared to the number of hydraulically fractured wells.”
According to Bloomberg, the mandated study required the EPA to analyze more than 3,500 sources of information including published papers, state reports, and the EPA’s own scientific research.
However, no evidence could be found that fracking caused any chemicals to flow through underground fissures and contaminate drinking water, reported Bloomberg.
When the EPA took a better look at the process around fracking, it found that wells and above ground spills may have affected drinking water resources.
The Science Advisory Board issued its analysis on August 11 on last year’s draft EPA report on fracking and water, according to InsideClimateNews.
Included with the analysis was a letter to EPA administrator, Gina McCarthy, in which the board stated that the study’s findings garnered “national-level conclusions regarding the impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources" and were "inconsistent with the observations, data and levels of uncertainty."
The board cited last year’s report as a major concern of theirs, adding that fracking has not led to "widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water resources in the United States." The board said that there was not enough evidence to ultimately support EPA’s conclusion.
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