WASHINGTON —
State regulators inspect oil and gas wells sporadically, do not consistently record violations, and impose light penalties on companies that are found to break environmental, health or safety rules, according to a new research report issued by the environmental watchdog group Earthworks.
The report, “Breaking All the Rules,” comes out at a time when hydraulic fracturing - known as “fracking” - and horizontal drilling have touched off a nationwide boom in oil and gas production. While the growth in domestic energy production has nudged the United States closer to energy self-sufficiency and created jobs, it has also raised questions about the adequacy of environmental and health safeguards and elicited pushback from localities that contend that their states are not doing enough to protect them.
Earthworks monitors natural resource development. Its funders include the Heinz Endowments, the Park Foundation and the New York Community Trust.
The Marcellus Shale Coalition, a consortium of companies active in oil and gas production in the Northeast, assailed the report.
“In 2009, Marcellus Shale producers supported a well permitting fee increase which helped double the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s regulatory staff at no taxpayer expense,” said Patrick Creighton, a spokesman for the coalition. “It’s not surprising, however, that this intellectually dishonest, Heinz Endowments-backed organization would make such provably false claims, contrary to the facts and readily available data, in an effort to grab a headline and spread fear.”
States lack the inspectors and equipment they need to inspect wells annually, according to the report, which is based on data collected from regulatory agencies in Colorado, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas. In 2010, for example, Pennsylvania inspectors were unable to perform onsite inspections of 82,000 active oil and gas wells, or 91 percent of those in the state. Yet the state’s guidelines recommend five inspections annually per well.
The backlog stems in part from the relatively small number of inspectors states have to monitor the expansion of oil and gas production. In Colorado, 15 inspectors conducted reviews of 16,228 wells in 2010, or 1,082 inspections per employee. In New Mexico, 12 inspectors averaged 1,732 inspections each, or 20,780 total.
Violations are tracked poorly across the board, according to the report. In Colorado and New Mexico, information about violations is publicly available on a well-by-well basis but not for the state overall. Inspectors in those states also have wide latitude to determine what is a violation. In Colorado, for example, even if an inspection is marked “unsatisfactory,” it might not yield violations. In Texas, regulators in 2010 gave enforcement referrals “recommendations to enforce, not actual enforcement actions,” the report said.
But Texas broadly defended its record of oversight of the oil and gas industry. “For almost 100 years, the Railroad Commission of Texas has been effectively regulating the oil and gas industry,” the commission said in a statement.
World, nation, state
Watchdog group criticizes states’ inspections of oil and gas wells
- World, nation, state
-
-
Analyst say pay-TV companies losing customers
One of pay-TV’s top trend analysts, Bruce Leichtman, says the biggest pay-TV companies lost 80,000 TV subscribers over four quarters, a first in his research over more than a decade.
-
Distraught mom becomes face of Oklahoma storm
A massive tornado was carving its way through town. There was no time to hesitate. LaTisha Garcia had to get to her children.
-
Man shot by FBI had spoken with bombing suspect
A Chechen immigrant shot to death in central Florida after an altercation with an FBI agent had several ties to that of one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects who authorities were questioning him about at the time.
-
Jurors deadlock on Jodi Arias penalty; retrial set
Jurors who spent five months determining Jodi Arias’ fate couldn’t decide whether she should get life in prison or die for murdering her boyfriend, sending prosecutors back to the drawing board to rehash the shocking case of sex, lies and violence to another 12 people.
-
Big U.S. cities showing strong growth
Urban renewal? New census estimates show that most of the nation’s largest cities further enhanced their allure last year, posting strong population growth for a second straight year.
-
Cleveland kidnap case hero gets year of free McDonald’s
The man who famously put down his Big Mac to help rescue three women held captive for years in a Cleveland house will get free McDonald’s for the next year, a company spokeswoman confirmed Thursday.
-
Boy Scouts approve plan to accept openly gay youth
The Boy Scouts of America threw open its ranks Thursday to gay Scouts but not gay Scout leaders — a fiercely contested compromise that some warned could fracture the organization and lead to mass defections of members and donors.
-
Ohio injection well operator fights state action
A northeast Ohio injection-well operator whose former senior officer faces federal charges of violating the Clean Water Act told a state regulatory panel Wednesday that the company can’t be blamed for the acts of “a bad person.”
-
Man shot to death while questioned in Boston probe
A Chechen immigrant was shot to death by authorities early Wednesday after he turned violent while being questioned about his ties to one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, officials said.
-
Jury in Arias trial adjourns after impasse
Jurors in the Jodi Arias murder trial said Wednesday they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict on whether she should be sentenced to life in prison or death for killing her one-time boyfriend, prompting the judge to instruct them to keep trying.
- More World, nation, state Headlines
-
Analyst say pay-TV companies losing customers
