Milito questions EPA call for further hydraulic fracturing research
Erik Milito, upstream and industry operations director at the American Petroleum Institute (API), called into question the validity of the EPA’s request for additional data on Friday to back a five-year study that confirmed the safety of hydraulic fracturing.
“The science is clear and the studies are completed,” Milito said. “Study after study shows that hydraulic fracturing is safe. The benefits of hydraulic fracturing have made the United States the number one producer of oil and natural gas in the world, and largely due to affordable and abundant supplies of natural gas, we are also leading the world in reducing carbon and other emissions. Carbon emissions are down to levels not seen in more than two decades – a model resulting not from government mandates and regulations, but private investment and innovation.”
The EPA’s study required five years and millions of dollars to complete, drawing on more than 950 published papers and reports and concluding that hydraulic fracturing has no lasting or widespread effects on the quality of drinking water.
“Instead of denying the scientific evidence proving the environmental benefits of hydraulic fracturing, the United States should be celebrating the overwhelming data demonstrating that hydraulic fracturing is helping reduce GHG emissions and other emissions, and has helped lower energy costs for consumers,” Milito said.
