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Millions of gallons of water laced with toxic chemicals from oil and gas drilling rigs are pumped for consumption by wildlife and livestock with the formal approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), according to
public comments filed yesterday by
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Contrary to its own regulations, EPA is issuing permits for surface application of drilling wastewater without even identifying the chemicals in fluids used for hydraulic fracturing, also known as
fracking, let alone setting effluent limits for the contaminants contained within them.
The EPA has just posted proposed
new water discharge permits for the nearly dozen oil fields on or abutting the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming as the EPA has
Clean Water Act jurisdiction on tribal lands. Besides not even listing the array of toxic chemicals being discharged, the proposed permits have monitoring requirements so weak that water can be tested long after fracking events or maintenance flushing. In addition, the permits lack any provisions to protect the health of wildlife or livestock.
"Under the less than watchful eye of the EPA, fracking flowback is dumped into rivers, lakes and reservoirs," stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, pointing out that in both the current and the new proposed permits the EPA ignores its own rules requiring that it list "the type and quantity of wastes, fluids or pollutants which are proposed to be or are being treated, stored, disposed of, injected, emitted or discharged."
Comment: Read more about Ag Gag laws that are established to prosecute activists who document abuses in Factory Farms:
FBI Says Activists Who Investigate Factory Farms Can Be Prosecuted as Terrorists
Shocking: Reporting factory farm abuses to be considered "Act of Terrorism" if new laws pass
Utah Bill Would Make Videotaping a Factory Farm the Same as Assaulting a Police Officer
Business lobby moves to criminalize filming animal abuse on factory farms
Why You Can Be Branded a Terrorist for Fighting Animal Abuse
State of Iowa Makes Filming Animal Abuse a Crime
"Big Farma" still trying to hide their dirty secrets