AWWA Paper On Fracking

A white paper from the American Water Works Association entitled Water and Hydraulic Fracturing.

AWWA has produced this white paper in response to growing public awareness and concern about hydraulic fracturing and related activities. The paper provides water utilities with background, facts, and resources to help them understand and communicate fracking processes, risks, and regulations. Additionally, the paper considers both hydraulic fracturing itself and other components in the life cycle of oil and natural gas development that may present concerns to drinking water utilities. Although this document primarily discusses drinking water utility risks and concerns—and ways to mitigate them—it is important to remember that any policy decisions regarding energy development must take both risks and benefits into account. Although summarized briefly, the benefits of energy development—which can be substantial—are not discussed in detail in this paper

AWWA position on oil and natural gas development, including hydraulic fracturing

• The protection of drinking water sources, supplies, and infrastructure must be a paramount consideration for all industrial activities, including oil and gas development using hydraulic fracturing.
• Regulation at the federal, state, and local levels should be designed and enforced to minimize all risks of oil and gas development to drinking water sources, supplies, and infrastructure. Regulators should use their authorities under federal and state law to reduce these risks to the greatest extent possible.
• Appropriate government agencies must be provided with sufficient resources to adequately implement permitting, regulatory, enforcement, and outreach programs. To the extent that these programs are funded by industry, they should be managed to ensure they are sustainable programs without conflicts of interest.
• Oil and gas wells must be appropriately designed, sited, constructed, operated, and closed using sound engineering techniques, following all applicable regulations and industry best practices.
• Oil and gas developers must have financially sound strategies in place to manage hazards, including the means to assume financial responsibility for cleaning up water supplies should contamination occur, even if such contamination occurs after the facility has been closed.
• Monitoring of pre-drilling water quality should establish baseline conditions, and periodic monitoring should assess any changes in water quality that might occur during oil or gas development, so as to detect problems and allow for corrective action as soon as possible.
• For the protection of public health, drinking water utilities must be informed immediately when spills, accidents, or any other issue has the potential to impact the quality or availability of source waters. Water utilities should be provided with complete information on chemicals accidentally released, regardless of trade secret status. Such information is necessary to determine treatment options and inform the public should drinking water ever be placed at risk.
• Having a secure energy future does not mean choosing between development and clean water. America can and should have both, provided that energy development is undertaken consistent with these policy principles.