Clean Water Action works to protect water, health, climate and communities from oil and gas while pushing for the transition to a clean energy economy. We work to secure the strongest possible protections to limit the impacts of oil and gas development and to end the special treatment for the fossil fuel industry at the local, state, and national levels.
Aquifer Exemptions: Sacrificing Groundwater for Oil and Gas Production
The Aquifer Exemption program in the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Underground Injection Control (UIC) program allows certain oil and gas and mining activity to occur in groundwater that would otherwise be protected as a drinking water source.
Fracking Threatens Drinking Water
The US Environmental Protection Agency “...found specific instances where one or more of these mechanisms led to impacts on drinking water resources, including contamination of drinking water wells.”
Extreme Weather Highlights Urgent Need for Energy Infrastructure Updates Across Midwest
Recent IPCC and federal studies are clear: we have to act now. Bold decisions are needed to decarbonize power girds and invest in renewable energy sources to . The polar vortex and deep freeze across the Midwest is another reminder that we need strong local and state leadership to fill the vacuum created by a federal pull back on action on climate.
Regulating Oil & Gas Activities to Protect Drinking Water
When the U.S. Congress first passed the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) in 1974, it authorized the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop a program to protect vital under- ground drinking water resources from risks of industrial activities in which fluid is injected
into the ground. However, Congress also included language mandating that EPA not “interfere with or impede” oil and gas production unless it is “absolutely essential” in order to protect underground sources of drinking water.
The regulatory and legislative history of the SDWA Underground Injection Control Program (UIC) demonstrates the impact of this language on the UIC program’s evolution.