Hinchey vows frack attack

Allies in new congress

By FRITZ MAYER

WASHINGTON, DC — Congressman Maurice Hinchey has vowed to lead the fight against hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, when the new Congress convenes next year.

In a statement released on November 20, Hinchey said, “It’s imperative that we safeguard our drinking water from any chemicals associated with natural gas drilling.” Hinchey said he was encouraged that the New York Department of Environmental Conservation is in the process of creating new regulations in New York, but added, “We must ensure that drinking water in all states is protected from toxic chemicals associated with hydraulic fracturing. We must avoid a situation in which a generation or less from now, people shake their heads and wonder how our government could have been so short-sighted and foolish to exempt hydraulic fracturing from the Safe Drinking Water Act.”

Fracking is the process by which water, sand and chemicals are forced into rock formations deep underground to facilitate the release and collection of gas or oil. The process was exempted from the federal Safe Drinking Water Act and several other environmental laws with the passage of the 2005 Energy Policy Act, which Hinchey opposed and voted against.

One important change from this Congress over the next is that the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce has a new chairman. Congressman Henry A. Waxman of California defeated Congressman John Dingell of Michigan in a secret ballot election in the house to become chair of the committee. Waxman has been a vocal opponent of fracking.

Dingell was seen by many to be a champion of the automotive industry, while Waxman is seen as a doggedly determined environmentalist, with a penchant for going after polluters and others who break the rules.

Last year, Waxman held hearings on fracking that included testimony from Dr. Theo Colburn indicating that dozens of the chemicals commonly used in fracking are harmful to human health. Waxman, at the time, called fracking “a dangerous practice.”

Hinchey said that with President-Elect Barack Obama and a new Congress coming in, there is a good chance that his bill, H.R. 7231, will pass.

The bill already has support from many lawmakers who live in gas-producing states such as Colorado and New Mexico.