Fracking Emissions Get Review After EPA Watchdog Report
From Bloomberg
By Mark Drajem
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency agreed to more closely study air emissions from hydraulic fracturing after the agency’s auditor concluded its current data is insufficient to make policy decisions.
The EPA has already begun an inter-agency study of methane, air toxins and other pollutants released when oil and gas are tapped using the process, called fracking, Gina McCarthy, the head of the agency’s air office, said in a letter to the Inspector General’s office that was released yesterday.
“We have identified emissions information for oil and natural gas production as a critical need,” McCarthy said in her letter, which was dated Nov. 16. McCarthy is the leading candidate to be nominated by President Barack Obama to head the EPA, according to people briefed on the plans.
