Fracking Loopholes Remain, with More Sick Families

The science is clear-and growing-that oil and gas production, including fracking, pollutes our environment with toxic dangers and harms human health. Families in fracking fields continue to report significant health ailments. Yet at the same time there are still gaping loopholes for the oil and gas industry in our bedrock environmental laws, leaving communities without the protections they need.

Drinking water contamination lasts

Back in 2009, I blogged about the community of Dimock, Pennsylvania. It was the site of fracking by Cabot Corporation that went wrong and led to diesel spills, fracking fluid spills that contaminated wetlands and a creek, and contamination of groundwater. Eighteen families were affected. In 2024, 15 years later, residents of Dimock are still asking for help to get clean drinking water. A legal settlement was supposed to result in a new municipal water supply for the community, but it's been held up and solid plans have yet to materialize. And it's hard to believe but more fracking is planned for the area by Cabot's successor, Coterra Energy.

More families report drinking water pollution and sickness in Pennsylvania

Also in Pennsylvania, the community of New Freeport is surrounded by four well pads. Families there rely on groundwater for the clean water they need for drinking, cooking, bathing, and more, and they have always considered their water to be clean and safe. A federal law, the Safe Drinking Water Act, generally protects underground sources of drinking water from contamination by substances being injected underground, such as fracking fluids. However, due to a special giveaway by Congress to the oil and gas industry back in 2005, known as the Halliburton Loophole, fracking is exempt from the protections of this vital federal law.

Closing this loophole might have protected the drinking water in New Freeport. Instead, in June 2022, it was reported that a fracking job on one of the nearby well pads went wrong and communicated with an old abandoned well that was never properly plugged. For years, we've known that this type of incident can lead to fracking chemicals migrating and contaminating underground sources of drinking water, and that steps need to be taken to prevent this from happening. While a local official posted notice of the problem on social media, no one provided the community with formal notification that the accident had occurred.

At first, some families observed that their animals wouldn't drink the water. Then, residents began noticing that their water smelled bad, had sediment in it, and was discolored. Some people found their water tasted bad or had an oily feel to it. Ultimately, families have reported burning skin, hives, and other rashes. Water testing found substances associated with fracking and gas wells in the water, such as arsenic, barium, butane, ethane, methane, propane, and strontium, with some contaminants at elevated levels. Testing by experts at Duquesne University found 20 water wells with high levels of contaminants. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection confirmed that the water samples didn't meet health and safety standards, but the agency has also said it "cannot conclude" without further investigation that this was caused by the local fracking job gone wrong.

In 2023, EQT, the company that owns the well in question, began delivering clean water to families, although EQT has not admitted any fault. It's been reported that families were offered either one year of water delivery or a free water treatment system if they signed a nondisclosure agreement and released the company from future claims relating to personal injury or property damage-but the water treatment system offered cannot filter out all the suspected contaminants.

Residents who accepted a water tank (aka water buffalo) from EQT are still receiving water deliveries but may soon lose this resource. Other families never received a tank and have no way to pay for clean water. Community members have filed a class action lawsuit against EQT. In the meantime, a local organization, the Center for Coalfield Justice, is raising money to buy water for families that can't afford it on their own. It's tragic that some of these families have to rely on a local nonprofit for clean water.

Reports of air pollution and sick families in West Virginia

In the West Virginia community of Knob Fork, it's reported that four families living near a massive fracking operation, well pad, compressor station, and tank farm experienced significant health effects. Beginning in 2020, these families reported serious symptoms including nausea, chest pain, muscle pain, nerve pain, muscle twitching, trouble breathing, chemical scents and taste in their mouths, headaches, brain fog, rashes, eyes and mouth burning, lethargy and fatigue, dizziness, and more.

They purchased their own air monitors and reportedly found elevated levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in their air. Their urine samples reportedly showed high levels of VOCs, including in children. VOCs can include the BTEX chemicals-benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene -and other toxic hydrocarbons, including formaldehyde. These chemicals can be released into the air from oil and gas operations and equipment and can lead to the health symptoms noted above as well as longer-term health impacts, such as organ damage, cancer, and adverse birth outcomes.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reportedly visited this community with optical gas imaging cameras, as did the nonprofit organization Earthworks, and reportedly detected dangerous air pollution emanating from the well pad near these homes.

Importantly, these families report that their symptoms disappeared when they left the community, sometimes leaving in the middle of the night to escape noxious fumes. Despite repeated complaints, it appears that no state or federal agency has yet taken action to stop these air emissions.

It's past time to close special loopholes for the oil and gas industry

For decades, the oil and gas industry has been granted special exemptions from some of our nation's most important environmental laws, including the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and the Clean Air Act, among others. That means the industry is allowed to pollute communities in ways that other industries are not. Many of the pollutants are known to cause serious health effects. It's past time to close these dangerous loopholes.

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