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Fracking and oil drilling in California
Fracking and oil drilling in California. A US environmental report is being used to inform new fracking guidelines for Australia. Photograph: Les Stone/Corbis
Fracking and oil drilling in California. A US environmental report is being used to inform new fracking guidelines for Australia. Photograph: Les Stone/Corbis

US environmental agency advising Australia on impact of fracking on water

This article is more than 8 years old

The US’s Environmental Protection Agency has given Australia’s Department of the Environment details of recent fracking study and is peer reviewing papers

The Australian government has obtained information from US environmental regulators on the impact of fracking upon water supplies to help inform a new set of guidelines it is preparing on the controversial activity.

The US’s Environmental Protection Agency has supplied the Australian Department of the Environment with the details of a recent study on fracking. The EPA has also helped the department peer review a number of its own documents.

The EPA report is the result of a request from Congress to analyse how fracking for oil and gas is affecting water supplies in the US. Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is a process where a combination of water, chemicals and sand is injected deep underground in order to release oil or gas from rocky areas.

Fracking is banned in Victoria and has faced opposition from environmental groups, some farmers and radio personality Alan Jones in New South Wales and Queensland.

However, the EPA report said it could find no evidence of “widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water resources in the United States” from fracking, which is deployed across vast swathes of the country.

But the report did find fracking had the potential to pollute water supplies and cited the “paucity” of long-term studies on the topic for continuing uncertainty.

Mark Kasman, a senior official at the EPA, said: “The Australian government was very interested in some of our fracking issues. They are also interested in some of the regional planning for water use and water distribution, how it’s decided what water is going to the farmers and what is going to the cities.”

An Australian department of environment spokeswoman said the government is “aware” of the report and is writing new guidelines on fracking, due to be completed next year.

“The department has commissioned a guidance manual to help industry and government regulators evaluate potential risks to humans and the environment from chemicals used in coal seam gas extraction and develop appropriate risk management measures,” she said.

Kasman said the EPA is in the early stages of collaborating with Australia over climate change, with the US watchdog set to share its experiences in regulating emissions from cars and ports.

The EPA is able to set and enforce emissions standards for on-road and off-road vehicles in the US, as part of a push to improve air quality and car efficiency.

Australia, which has no such regime in place, saw its greenhouse gas emissions from transport increase by 50% between 1990 and 2012. Transport currently accounts for around 16% of Australia’s total emissions and is forecast to rise further without government intervention.

Kasman said the interaction between Australia and the EPA has been two-way, citing the example of water use in drought.

“We know that in in Melbourne as they are building new city streets, grey water is collected and used for other purposes,” he said. “We don’t do that here yet and I have a feeling we may be forced to do that in the future if trends keep going the way they are.”

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