Thursday, April 19, 2012
Associated Press
WASHINGTON
The Obama administration on Wednesday set the first national standards to control air pollution from gas wells that are drilled using a method called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, but not without making concessions to the oil and gas industry.
Top EPA officials said Wednesday that the new regulations would ensure pollution is controlled without slowing natural- gas production.
Much of the air pollution from fracked gas wells is vented when the well transitions from drilling to actual production, a three- to 10-day process which is referred to as “completion.” An earlier version of the rule limiting air pollution from gas wells would have required companies to install pollution-reducing equipment immediately after the rule was finalized.
Drillers will be given more than two years to employ technology to reduce emissions of smog- and soot-forming pollutants during that stage. The EPA will require drillers to burn off gas in the meantime, an alternative that can release smog-forming nitrogen oxides, but will still slash overall emissions.
Industry groups had pushed hard for the delay, saying the equipment to reduce pollution at the wellhead during completion was not readily available. About 25,000 wells a year are being fracked, a process where water, chemicals and sand are injected at high pressure underground to release trapped natural gas.
Besides the new standards for oil and gas wells, the EPA also Wednesday updated rules for natural-gas processing plants, storage tanks and transmission lines to reduce amounts of cancer-causing air pollution, such as benzene, and also reduce methane — the main ingredient in natural gas, but also one of the most potent global-warming gases.
Hydraulic fracturing is largely responsible for a natural-gas drilling boom. The technique has raised environmental concerns for its toll or air and water.