News Release
04/02/2014
AG Pruitt letter to EPA Inspector General on Hydraulic Fracturing
Oklahoma AG Scott Pruitt sent the following letter to Dan Engelberg, director of the EPA's Office of Inspector General (OIG), regarding OIG's research into the EPA's and state's ability to manage potential threats to water resources from hydraulic fracturing.
Dear Mr. Engelberg:
I am writing to express my concern over your February 5,2014, Memorandum in which you announce that the EPA's Office of Inspector General (OIG) is beginning preliminary research on the EPA's and states' ability to manage potential threats to water resources from hydraulic fracturing. I am concerned that this project is politically motivated and ignores the EPA's three previous failed attempts to link hydraulic fracturing to water contamination. In addition, the US Department of Energy has investigated hydraulic fracturing's potential harm to water supplies and found no evidence linking-the drilling technique to groundwater contamination.
The State of Oklahoma has a long histoiy of successfully regulating hydraulic fracturing within our borders. The hydraulic fracturing process is largely responsible for the boom in oil and gas production in the United States and is leading this country towards greater energy independence and security. Because of specific knowledge concerning the diverse landscapes, terrain and geological formations within its borders, the states, and not the EPA, are better equipped to regulate hydraulic fracturing. The State has a vested interest in protecting its drinking water supplies from contamination and has a proven track record of doing so. This proposed investigation appears to be yet another attempt to transfer regulation of hydraulic fracturing from the states to the federal government.
According to the mission statement of the OIG, your office's primary responsibilities are to: Promote economy, efficiency, effectiveness and prevent and detect fraud, waste and abuse through independent oversight of the programs and operations of the Environmental Protection Agency...
The scope of the study you propose in your Memorandum goes well beyond the stated purpose and mission of the OIG. I would urge you to reconsider this unnecessaiy and duplicative study and focus your efforts instead on ferreting out fraud, waste, and abuse at the Environmental Protection Agency.
Sincerely,
E. Scott Pruitt