Frack Waste Investigation Launched by Pennsylvania Congressman » EcoWatch.
In light of an increasing number of studies showing that fracking produces toxic emissions that have serious human health impacts throughout the entire process, Pennsylvania CongressmanMatt Cartwright, a first-term Democrat, has opened an investigation into how toxic wastes from fracking are regulated.
“Preliminary reports indicate there are big gaps in protections and oversight that the federal government might have to fill,” Cartwright told Inside Climate News.
Fracking is big business in Pennsylvania. As a result of its exponential growth in the last decade, the state is now the third largest producer of natural gas in the U.S. after Texas and Louisiana. But among the many questions surrounding such operations is how the wastewater—the mix of water, chemicals and sand used to blast open the shale—is disposed of. The waste has become something of a hot potato, with many states banning its disposal within their borders. Pennsylvania was among the states which tightened up its regulations so much of its waste is trucked to Ohio.
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