Natural Gas (Fracking) Rule
Docket No. 20-0702-1102
Over the summer, ICL participated in a negotiated rule process to regulate a new industry in Idaho. The proposed rule is a step forward but it isn't good enough.
Over the summer, ICL participated in a negotiated rule process to regulate a new industry in Idaho. Idaho has not traditionally been a major producer of fossil fuels. The recent discovery of natural gas in western Idaho has many Idahoans wondering if their drinking water wells will be protected from contamination.
As gas wells are drilled, developers propose to pump chemicals into the ground to fracture the rock and stimulate the flow of gas to their wells. This technique is called “fracking.” Given the toxic nature of many chemicals used in the injection process, this procedure carries serious risks, particularly of contaminating ground water.
The trouble with this type of chemical drilling is that it is exempt from many federal laws that protect public health and the environment and companies frequently pump millions of gallons of toxic chemicals, including chemicals which have been determined to cause cancer, into the groundwater. Idaho has never had commercially viable natural gas development and the proposed rule is Idaho's first attempt to regulate the industry.
The rule is a step forward but it isn't good enough.
The good: The Idaho Department of Lands has developed very solid requirements regarding the construction and use of pits to hold fluids and other materials. Properly containing fluids on the surface is one of the most critical aspects of protecting Idaho’s drinking water from contamination.
The bad: The “blanket bonding” contained in the draft rule results in insufficient money; for an operator with a 1000 wells, the state will only have a paltry $150 per well to cover all costs associated with plugging orphaned wells
The very bad: The proposed rule fails to require operators to use the environmentally preferable, non-toxic, non-carcinogenic fracking fluids that are available. Instead, the proposed rule will allow operators to use known cancer-causing chemicals. In doing so, the rules needlessly endanger Idaho’s drinking water.
