[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 85 (Tuesday, June 9, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6380-S6382]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CASEY (for himself and Mr. Schumer):
  S. 1215. A bill to amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to repeal a 
certain

[[Page S6381]]

exemption for hydraulic fracturing, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on Environment and Public Works.
  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Fracturing 
Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals, FRAC, Act along with my 
colleague, Senator Schumer, that protects drinking water and public 
health from the risks associated with an oil and gas extraction process 
called hydraulic fracturing. Specifically, our bill does two things. 
First, it repeals an exemption to the Safe Drinking Water Act that was 
granted to oil and gas companies four years ago. Second, it requires 
oil and gas companies to publicly disclose the chemicals used in 
hydraulic fracturing.
  The regulation of hydraulic fracturing under the Safe Drinking Water 
Act is supported by 77 groups, including 14 groups from Pennsylvania.
  The oil and gas industry uses hydraulic fracturing in 90 percent of 
wells. The process, which is also called ``fracking,'' involves 
injecting tens of thousands of gallons of water mixed with sand and 
chemical additives deep into the rock under extremely high pressure. 
The pressure breaks open the rock releasing trapped natural gas, which 
is then captured. Fracking often occurs near underground sources of 
drinking water. Unfortunately, a provision included in the 2005 Energy 
Policy Act exempted hydraulic fracturing from compliance with the Safe 
Drinking Water Act. The oil and gas industry is the only industry to 
have this exemption.
  The Casey-Schumer legislation is extremely important to people living 
in Pennsylvania, especially those living in communities along a 
geological formation called the Marcellus Shale. The Marcellus is a 
geological formation covering 34 million acres extending from southern 
New York, through central and western Pennsylvania, into the eastern 
half of Ohio and across most of West Virginia. The deepest layer of the 
Marcellus formation--the Marcellus Shale--contains a significant amount 
of natural gas trapped in deep rock formations up to 9,000 feet below 
ground. Last year, a professor at Penn State estimated that there was 
168 million cubic feet of natural gas in the Marcellus Shale. In the 
industry it is what is known as a ``Super Giant gas field.'' It is 
enough natural gas to provide for the entire country for 7 years. This 
vast amount of natural gas combined with a more complete knowledge of 
the natural fractures in the Marcellus Shale through which the gas can 
be easily extracted, has led to what Pennsylvanians are calling a gas 
rush.
  As I have mentioned, fracking involves injecting water mixed with 
chemicals. My major concern is that the chemicals added to the water to 
create fracking fluids are highly toxic. We're talking about chemicals 
like formaldehyde, benzene, and toluene. These chemicals are injected 
right below underground drinking water. This is especially important to 
Pennsylvania because our state has the second highest number of private 
wells for drinking water in the nation, second only to Michigan. Three 
million Pennsylvanians are dependent on private wells to provide safe 
drinking water to their homes. So massive drilling to get to the 
natural gas in the Marcellus Shale is not required to comply with the 
Safe Drinking Water Act, but drilling is happening right next to 
drinking water supplies. You can see why Pennsylvanians are concerned 
about their future access to safe drinking water.

  Now, the oil and gas industry would have you believe that there is no 
threat to drinking water from hydraulic fracturing. But the fact is we 
are already seeing cases in Pennsylvania, Colorado, Virginia, West 
Virginia, Alabama, Wyoming, Ohio, Arkansas, Utah, Texas, and New Mexico 
where residents have become ill or groundwater has become contaminated 
after hydraulic fracturing operations began in the area. This is not 
simply anecdotal evidence; scientists have found enough evidence to 
raise concerns as well. In a recent letter supporting our bill, 23 
health professionals and scientists wrote the following:

       . . . Oil and gas operations are known to release 
     substances into the environment that are known to be very 
     hazardous to human health, including benzene, arsenic, 
     mercury, hydrogen sulfide, and radioactive materials. The 
     demonstrated health effects caused by these substances 
     include cancers, central nervous system damage, skin and eye 
     irritation, and lung diseases. For example, fluids used in 
     the hydraulic fracturing process may contain toxic chemicals 
     such as 2-butoxyethanol, formaldehyde, sodium hydroxide, 
     glycol ethers, and naphthalene. For these reasons, we support 
     regulation of hydraulic fracturing under the Safe Drinking 
     Water Act and the disclosure of all chemical constituents in 
     hydraulic fracturing fluids to public agencies, including the 
     disclosure of constituent formulas in cases of medical need. 
     Moreover, we support full regulation of stormwater runoff, 
     which can pollute drinking water supplies, under the Clean 
     Water Act.
       There are growing reports of individuals living near oil 
     and gas operations who suffer illnesses that are linked to 
     these activities, yet there has been no systemic attempt to 
     gather the necessary data, establish appropriate monitoring, 
     analyze health exposure or assess risk related to any of 
     these activities. This should be done, in addition to full 
     Health Impact Assessments to inform future planning and 
     policy efforts.

  In Dimock, Pennsylvania, we have a recent example of the risks 
involved with hydraulic fracturing. On New Year's Day, Norma 
Fiorentino's drinking water well exploded. It literally blew up. Stray 
methane leaked and migrated upward through the rock and into the 
aquifer as natural gas deposits were drilled nearby. An investigation 
by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania shows that a spark created when the 
pump in the well house turned on may have led to the explosion. The 
blast cracked in half the several-thousand-pound concrete slab at the 
drilling pad on Ms. Fiorentino's property and tossed it aside. 
Fortunately, no one was hurt in the explosion. But throughout the town, 
several drinking water wells have exploded and nine wells have been 
found to contain so much natural gas that one homeowner was advised to 
open a window if he plans to take a bath. Tests of the well water show 
high amounts of aluminum and iron, which leads researchers to believe 
that drilling fluids are contaminating the water along with the gas. So 
this is a real concern. We are talking about serious implications if we 
don't develop the Marcellus Shale carefully and responsibly.
  I would point out that Pennsylvania has a long history of developing 
our natural resources to power the region and the nation. In fact, 
Pennsylvania is home to the Drake Well near Titusville, Pennsylvania, 
which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year. The Drake Well was 
the first commercial oil well in the United States and it launched the 
modern petroleum industry. In addition to oil, Western Pennsylvania has 
long produced natural gas. Pennsylvania also mines coal which we use to 
provide electricity to many of our neighboring states. Pennsylvanians 
are proud of the contributions we have made to the growth of our 
nation. Contributions that were made because we developed our abundant 
natural resources. But we also bear the burden of some environmental 
legacies, most created in previous generations when we were not as 
concerned with responsible development. We have old natural gas wells 
that were not capped and leak methane into homes in Versailles, PA. We 
have acid mine drainage that we spend millions of dollars every year to 
try and remediate. These examples are the lessons from which we need to 
learn.
  Pennsylvania will develop the natural gas in the Marcellus Shale. We 
are doing it right now, and we will see more drilling over the next few 
years. But we must develop the Marcellus Shale using the best 
environmental practices to protect our communities and our state. That 
is why I am introducing the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of 
Chemicals Act. This legislation will ensure that hydraulic fracturing 
does not unnecessarily jeopardize our groundwater. There are affordable 
alternatives that oil and gas companies can use so that they are not 
risking contaminating drinking water wells with potentially hazardous 
chemicals.
  I think Norma Fiorentino from Dimock, Pennsylvania, summed it up best 
when she told a reporter, ``You can't buy a good well.''
  So I urge all of my colleagues to support this legislation and ensure 
that our groundwater is protected as we responsibly develop our natural 
resources.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

[[Page S6382]]

                                S. 1215

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Fracturing Responsibility 
     and Awareness of Chemicals (FRAC) Act''.

     SEC. 2. REGULATION OF HYDRAULIC FRACTURING.

       (a) Underground Injection.--Section 1421(d) of the Safe 
     Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300h(d)) is amended by striking 
     paragraph (1) and inserting the following:
       ``(1) Underground injection.--
       ``(A) In general.--The term `underground injection' means 
     the subsurface emplacement of fluids by well injection.
       ``(B) Inclusion.--The term `underground injection' includes 
     the underground injection of fluids or propping agents 
     pursuant to hydraulic fracturing operations relating to oil 
     or gas production activities.
       ``(C) Exclusion.--The term `underground injection' does not 
     include the underground injection of natural gas for the 
     purpose of storage.''.
       (b) Disclosure.--Section 1421(b) of the Safe Drinking Water 
     Act (42 U.S.C. 300h(b)) is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (1)(C), by inserting before the semicolon 
     the following: ``, including a requirement that any person 
     using hydraulic fracturing disclose to the State (or to the 
     Administrator in any case in which the Administrator has 
     primary enforcement responsibility in a State) the chemical 
     constituents (but not the proprietary chemical formulas) used 
     in the fracturing process''; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(4) Disclosures of chemical constituents.--
       ``(A) In general.--The State (or the Administrator, as 
     applicable) shall make available to the public the 
     information contained in each disclosure of chemical 
     constituents under paragraph (1)(C), including by posting the 
     information on an appropriate Internet website.
       ``(B) Immediate disclosure in case of emergency.--
       ``(i) In general.--Subject to clause (ii), the regulations 
     promulgated pursuant to subsection (a) shall require that, in 
     any case in which the State (or the Administrator, as 
     applicable) or an appropriate treating physician or nurse 
     determines that a medical emergency exists and the 
     proprietary chemical formula or specific chemical identity of 
     a trade-secret chemical used in hydraulic fracturing is 
     necessary for emergency or first-aid treatment, the 
     applicable person using hydraulic fracturing shall 
     immediately disclose to the State (or the Administrator) or 
     the treating physician or nurse the proprietary chemical 
     formula or specific chemical identity of a trade-secret 
     chemical, regardless of the existence of--

       ``(I) a written statement of need; or
       ``(II) a confidentiality agreement.

       ``(ii) Requirement.--A person using hydraulic fracturing 
     that makes a disclosure required under clause (i) may require 
     the execution of a written statement of need and a 
     confidentiality agreement as soon as practicable after the 
     determination by the State (or the Administrator) or the 
     treating physician or nurse under that clause.''.
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