What is the Halliburton loophole in the Safe Drinking Water Act?
The report by the Environmental Integrity Project, “Fracking’s Toxic Loophole,” describes how a gap in the Safe Drinking Water Act – nicknamed the “Halliburton Loophole” – requires permits for fracking with diesel fuel, but allows companies to inject other petroleum products even more toxic than diesel without any …
Is the Halliburton loophole still in effect?
The Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act (or the FRAC Act) purports to close this loophole. Although it has been introduced in congress multiple times since 2009, it has yet to be signed into law.
What is the Halliburton loophole in the Energy Policy Act of 2005?
But the loophole refers to the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which exempts the hydraulic fracturing process, also known as fracking, from federal oversight under the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974. Then Vice President Dick Cheney did have a hand in getting the exemption put into the Energy Policy Act.
Why are fracking companies exempt from Clean Water Act?
NRDC believes there needs to be strong federal governance of fracking to protect drinking water, air quality and human health. Companies are not required by any federal law to identify the chemicals they are injecting into the ground as part of fracking, and state disclosure requirements vary widely.
Who was responsible for the Halliburton loophole?
Vice President Dick Cheney’s
This exemption from the SDWA has become known as the “Halliburton loophole” because it is widely perceived to have come about as a result of the efforts of Vice President Dick Cheney’s Energy Task Force.
When was the Halliburton loophole?
2005
This loophole, enacted by Congress in 2005, is a special favor to Halliburton and other oil and gas companies and prohibits the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from overseeing an industry practice called hydraulic fracturing. NRDC applauds the Senators and Representatives who introduced this legislation.
Does fracking pollute water?
Water Contamination. Fracking operations not only strain water resources but risk polluting them as well. A 2016 EPA analysis found that while large data gaps and uncertainties make it difficult to fully assess the impact on drinking water, fracking operations can—and do—affect drinking water resources.
Why was the Halliburton loophole created?
The primary goal of the study was to assess the potential for fracturing to contaminate underground drinking water supplies. Meanwhile, in 2001, a special task force on energy policy convened by Vice President Dick Cheney recommended that Congress exempt hydraulic fracturing from the Safe Drinking Water Act.
Does Halliburton do fracking?
The Halliburton approach to fracturing maximizes surface and subsurface efficiency to optimize the value of your capital investment.
Can you drink fracking fluid?
Brownstein said using ingredients from the food industry won’t necessarily make a fracking fluid safe for drinking water. “Salt is a food-grade ingredient, but if you have too much salt in your well water, your well water is not usable,” Brownstein said.
Can fracking water be reused?
Produced water is often disposed of by injecting it into deep geologic formations via wells that are specifically designed for that purpose. In some cases, produced water can be treated and reused to hydraulically fracture another well.
Does fracking make water flammable?
For the first time, a peer-reviewed scientific study has linked natural gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing with a pattern of drinking water contamination so severe that some faucets can be lit on fire.