A report was released today identifying and examining the dangers to water quality posed by oil and gas production in the states of Colorado, Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming.
The report, Watered Down, shows how regulatory systems fail to protect residents and communities from the harmful effects of oil and gas development.
The report’s findings are:
Oil and gas drilling uses massive volumes of water and produces massive volumes of waste.
No federal law sets comprehensive standards for oil and gas production.
State regulation is piecemeal.
A movement toward local ordinances to provide better protections could be useful to address local concerns, but the oil and gas industry generally prefers state oversight. Many states discourage or prevent oil and gas regulation at the local level. For the rest of this story please click the link to EcoWatch: http://ecowatch.com/2013/11/07/oil-and-gas-regulations-fail-to-protect-water/