$toxic fracking decade ago new files$

$toxic fracking decade ago new files$

Industry representatives cheered the findings, touting them as validation that fracking is safe. The revised summary was quickly embraced by the oil and gas industry, which for nearly a decade had been fighting off environmentalists' attacks and negative news coverage about fracking's alleged harm to the environment. The official version of the study was issued June 4, 2015. Highlighted phrases show how the language of the section increasingly placed more emphasis on the notion that no widespread, systemic impact had been found. Environmental Protection Agency's study on hydraulic fracturing and drinking water. How the executive summary changed View the four versions of the 'Major Findings' section in the executive summary of the U.S. In interviews with 19 people familiar with the research, some characterized the '(no) widespread, systemic' language as a 'bizarre conclusion' and 'irresponsible.' Others said they were 'surprised and disappointed' that top EPA officials used the phrase and said they had no idea it would become the headline until it came out.

$toxic fracking decade ago new files$

The authenticity of the documents - before and after the changes - was confirmed independently by three people with knowledge of the study. The emails also show EPA public relations people exchanging a flurry of messages between 4 and 11 p.m. But emails acquired via the Freedom of Information Act show EPA officials, including press officers, met with key advisers to President Obama to discuss marketing strategy a month before the study's release. It's not clear precisely who inserted or ordered the new phrasing. The agency also identified hundreds of other spills, many of which reached soil and water. In all, the agency identified more than two dozen instances in which hydraulic fracturing had an impact on water resources. In fact, scientists had found evidence in some places that fracking activity had polluted drinking water supplies. In a conference call with reporters about the study on the day it was released, the EPA's deputy administrator, Tom Burke, highlighted the lack of 'widespread, systemic impacts' as the agency's top finding. In the final release on June 4, 2015, mention of potential vulnerabilities was moved from the headline to the end of the subhead, and the phrase 'widespread, systemic impacts' was added.

$toxic fracking decade ago new files$

How the news release changed Successive drafts of an EPA news release show that the headline was softened from emphasizing how fracking might leave drinking water vulnerable to pollution to noting that scientists had not found widespread, systemic impacts. But the final release dated June 4, concluded: 'Assessment shows hydraulic fracturing activities have not led to widespread, systemic impacts to drinking water resources and identifies important vulnerabilities to drinking water resources.' A draft displayed a conclusion that the EPA had identified 'potential vulnerabilities' to drinking water. The documents also show that the news release accompanying the scientific study was changed on June 3, 2015, the day before it was made public. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, Deputy Administrator Tom Burkeĭocuments obtained by APM Reports and Marketplace show that in the six weeks before the study's public release, officials inserted a key phrase into the executive summary that said researchers did not find evidence of 'widespread systemic impacts' of fracking by the oil and gas industry on the nation's drinking water.Įarlier draft versions emphasized more directly that fracking has contaminated drinking water in some places.

$toxic fracking decade ago new files$

Toxic fracking decade ago new files