Senate bill would close fracking loophole
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.) has introduced the FRESHER Act of 2015, which forces companies to procure permits before they increase stormwater runoff from oil and gas well pads and related infrastructure. In March, Representative Matt Cartwright (D-Pa.) had introduced the companion bill in the House as part a set of bills (called the Frack Pack) that would end exemptions that the oil and gas industry currently receive from some of the country’s bedrock environmental laws: the Safe Drinking Water Act, Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
Friends of the Earth’s Climate and Energy Campaigner Kate DeAngelis offers the following statement in response:
Sen. Cardin’s bill restores one of the important environmental protections that a Republican Congress rolled back 10 years ago. To ensure our water is clean we must hold oil and gas companies to the same standards as other industries. Friends of the Earth strongly supports this bill, but recognizes that only a national ban on fracking will sufficiently protect public health and the environment.
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Expert contact: Kate DeAngelis, (202) 222-0747, [email protected]
Communications contact: Kate Colwell, (202) 222-0744, [email protected]