{"id":56249,"date":"2013-08-06T09:16:45","date_gmt":"2013-08-06T08:16:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/breaking-news\/inside-the-censored-epa-fracking-water-study\/56249\/"},"modified":"2013-08-06T09:16:45","modified_gmt":"2013-08-06T08:16:45","slug":"inside-the-censored-epa-fracking-water-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/breaking-news\/inside-the-censored-epa-fracking-water-study\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside the Censored EPA Fracking Water Study"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

DeSmogBlog<\/em>\u00a0has\u00a0obtained a copy<\/a>\u00a0of an\u00a0Obama Administration Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) fracking groundwater contamination PowerPoint\u00a0presentation describing a then-forthcoming study\u2019s findings in Dimock, Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n

The PowerPoint presentation<\/a>\u00a0reveals a clear link between\u00a0hydraulic fracturing (\u201cfracking\u201d)<\/a>\u00a0for shale gas in Dimock and groundwater contamination, but was\u00a0censored by the Obama Administration<\/a>. Instead, the\u00a0EPA issued an official desk statement in July 2012<\/a>\u00a0– in the thick of election year \u2014 saying the water in Dimock was safe for consumption.<\/p>\n

Titled \u201cIsotech-Stable Isotype Analysis: Determinining the Origin of Methane and Its Effets on the Aquifer<\/a>,\u201d the PowerPoint presentation concludes that in Cabot Oil and Gas\u2019 Dimock\u00a0Gesford 2 well<\/a>, \u201cDrilling creates pathways, either temporary or permanent, that allows gas to migrate to the shallow aquifer near [the] surface\u2026In some cases, these gases disrupt groundwater quality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other charts depict\u00a0Cabot\u2019s Gesford 3 and 9 wells<\/a>\u00a0as doing much of the same, allowing methane to migrate up to aquifers\u00a0to unprecedented levels \u2014 not coincidentally \u2014 coinciding with the wells being fracked.\u00a0The PowerPoint\u2019s conclusions are damning.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cMethane is released during the drilling and perhaps during the fracking process and other gas well work,\u201d\u00a0the presentation states<\/a>. \u201cMethane is at significantly higher concentrations in the aquifers after gas drilling and perhaps as a result of fracking and other gas well work\u2026Methane and other gases released during drilling (including air from the drilling) apparently cause significant damage to the water quality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the findings, the official EPA desk statement concluded any groundwater contamination in Dimock was \u201cnaturally occurring.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEPA found hazardous substances, specifically arsenic, barium or manganese, all of which are also naturally occurring substances, in well water at five homes at levels that could present a health concern,\u201d\u00a0read the EPA desk statement<\/a>. \u201cEPA has provided the residents with all of their sampling results and has no further plans to conduct additional drinking water sampling in Dimock.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two EPA whistleblowers recently approached<\/a>\u00a0the\u00a0American Tradition Institute<\/em><\/a>\u00a0and revealed politics were at-play in the decision to censor the EPA\u2019s actual findings in Dimock. At the heart of the cover-up was former EPA head Lisa Jackson.<\/p>\n

Former EPA Head Lisa Jackson\u2019s Role in Censoring Report\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

EnergyWire<\/em>\u2018s Mike\u00a0Soraghan explained<\/a>\u00a0the studies were dropped \u2014 according to one of the unidentified whistleblowers close to the field team in Dimock \u2014 \u201cout of fear the inquiries would hurt President Obama\u2019s re-election chances.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though the two EPA career employees\u2019\u00a0initial findings pointed to water contamination in Dimock \u2014 as seen in the PowerPoint presentation \u2014 their superiors told them to stop the investigation, in turn motivating them to blow the whistle.<\/p>\n

One of the whistleblowers said he came forward due to witnessing \u201cpatently unethical and possibility illegal acts conducted by EPA management.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI have for over a year now worked within the system to try and make right the injustice and apparent unethical acts I witnessed. I have not been alone in this effort,\u201d\u00a0the unnamed whistleblower told Soraghan<\/a>. \u201cI took an oath when I became a federal employee that I assume very solemnly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

At the center of the management team overseeing the false desk statement: former EPA head Lisa Jackson, who\u00a0now works as Apple\u2019s top environmental advisor<\/a>. Jackson was recently replaced by\u00a0just-confirmed EPA head Gina McCarthy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This was revealed by the other whistleblower, who as part of the regular duties of his job, was a member of the \u201cHQ-Dimock\u201d email listserv. On that list, Jackson went by the pseudonym\u00a0\u201dRichard Windsor<\/a>\u201d as a way to shield her real name from potential Freedom of Information Act requests.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany members of the email group\u2026were lawyers and members of Lisa Jackson\u2019s inner political circle,\u201d\u00a0explained Soraghan<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Key Freedom of Information Act Filed<\/strong><\/p>\n

American Tradition Institute\u00a0<\/em>has filed two FOIA\u2019s in response to the whistleblowers coming forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne FOIA request seeks certain e-mails, text messages, or instant messages of three specified EPA field staff which are to, from or make reference to the White House or EPA HQ,\u201d\u00a0explained ATI<\/a>. \u201cThe second FOIA request focuses on emails sent as part of the \u2018HQ-Dimock\u2019 discussion group. Both requests cover the seven-month period from December 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012.\u201d<\/p>\n

Natural Resources Defense Council<\/em>\u00a0– which has also been critical of the EPA on this issue \u2014 is suspicious\u00a0of ATI\u2019s motives in this case.<\/p>\n

ATI is more well-known for denying climate change\u2019s existence and\u00a0\u201cClimateGate\u201d in particular<\/a>.\u00a0Yet, when push comes to shove, NRDC\u2019s Kate Sinding approves of ATI\u2019s FOIA filing and looks forward to what it discovers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt appears to be an attempt to bully EPA out of these cases,\u201d\u00a0Sinding toldEnergyWire<\/em><\/a>. \u201cIf their request results in getting more information about the decisionmaking, that\u2019s good information for everyone. But I question their motivation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHide It, Drop It, Forget About It\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The real question at the heart of the matter: What were the EPA\u2019s motives for doing an about-face on a key multi-year tax-payer subsidized study?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is unconscionable that, in the name of political expediency, the Obama Administration suppressed key information that would have connected the dots between fracking and water contamination,\u201d\u00a0Wenonah Hauter<\/a>, Executive Director of\u00a0Food and Water Watch\u00a0<\/em>told\u00a0DeSmogBlog.<\/em>\u00a0\u201dGina McCarthy must put the health and safety of Americans first and prevent the agency from succumbing to political pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scott Ely<\/a>\u00a0– a\u00a0former Cabot employee<\/a>\u00a0and Dimock resident who has three small children and\u00a0whose water was contaminated by Cabot<\/a>\u00a0– expressed similar despair over EPA abandoning ship in this high-profile study.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen does anybody just stand by the truth? Why is it that we have a bunch of people in Washington, DC who are trying to manipulate the truth of what\u2019s happening to people in Dimock because of the industry?,\u201d Ely asked rhetorically.<\/p>\n

Ely says he keeps an open line of communications with EPA employees, who regularly check in and caution him not to use his water. The employees remain unidentified for fear of retribution by EPA upper-level\u00a0management.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe thought EPA was going to come in and be our savior. And what\u2019d they do? They said the truth can\u2019t be known: hide it, drop it, forget about it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Steve Horn<\/strong>\u00a0is a Madison, WI-based freelance investigative journalist and Research Fellow at\u00a0DeSmogBlog<\/a>, where this piece originally appeared.<\/em><\/p>\n

Republished from: Counterpunch<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DeSmogBlog\u00a0has\u00a0obtained a copy\u00a0of an\u00a0Obama Administration Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) fracking groundwater contamination PowerPoint\u00a0presentation describing a then-forthcoming study\u2019s findings in Dimock, Pennsylvania. The PowerPoint presentation\u00a0reveals a clear link between\u00a0hydraulic fracturing (\u201cfracking\u201d)\u00a0for shale gas in Dimock and groundwater contamination, but was\u00a0censored by the Obama Administration. Instead, the\u00a0EPA issued an official desk statement in July 2012\u00a0– in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":56251,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[487],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-56249","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-breaking-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}