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The House Science, Space and Technology subcommittees on Energy and the Environment held a joint hearing today examining the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) multi-year study on hydraulic fracturing. In recent months, the EPA has misled the public about possible groundwater contamination linked to hydraulic fracturing, only to back-peddle when the facts came to light.  The latest instance of the agency’s sloppy, agenda-driven conclusions is the Pavillion, WY case.  The hearing was intended to evaluate if the EPA had learned any lessons from its previous mistakes in the context of its ongoing study.

U.S. Representative Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo) has been an outspoken critic of the EPA’s mishandling in Pavilion and the agency’s efforts to frighten people with claims of what is possible from hydraulic fracturing, not what is likely to occur.

“In this manner, the Agency appears headed toward developing conclusions completely divorced from any useful context,” Rep. Lummis said. “It is akin to a weatherman warning citizens to take shelter based on the possibility that a storm will occur, without including any indication of when the storm might occur, where it might hit and how likely it is to actually take place.  I am not alone in this concern, as several of the panelists on the EPA’s Science Advisory Board’s Hydraulic Fracturing Research Advisory have similarly expressed apprehension over the lack of context the agency is providing and its neglect of risk assessment.”

For clips from today’s hearing please visit: http://youtu.be/TiweEpoD3Oc

For more information on today’s hearing please visit: http://science.house.gov/hearing/subcommittee-environment-and-subcommitte-energy-joint-hearing-lessons-learned-epa%E2%80%99s

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