By Mark Golden
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management recently revamped 25-year-old rules for oil and gas
drilling on federal and Indian lands to deal with environmental concerns about hydraulic 
fracturing.
Both sides of the environmental debate are on the attack. Wyoming, North Dakota and two
industry groups are suing to stop the rules, and Republican U.S. senators introduced 
legislation to prohibit federal regulation of hydraulic fracturing. Meanwhile, some Democratic
members of Congress moved to ban hydraulic fracturing on federal land completely.
The 100-page final rule boils down to three main rule changes, which will take effect next
month. Gas and oil companies will have to store wastewater from wells in tanks rather than 
open-air pits. Also, the companies will have to disclose publicly the chemicals they use at
each drilling site. Third, drillers must test all wells before  production begins, rather than
testing only the first well of a new type. In states that have stricter rules than the new federal
requirements, the state rules will apply to federal lands.
Mark Zoback, a professor of geophysics and director of Stanford's Natural Gas Initiative,
was a member of the U.S. Secretary of Energy's advisory board committee on shale gas 
production and environmental protection.

Robert Jackson, a professor of Earth system science and a leader on the water and air
impacts of natural gas and oil extraction, published the first studies of hydraulic fracturing's 
impact on drinking water.

 Do you think the new rules are too strict or not strict enough?
Zoback: There's no question these are steps in the right direction, but more can be done.
In 2011, President Obama charged then-Secretary of Energy Steven Chu with answering 
whether shale gas resources could be developed in a way that protected health and the 
environment. Our committee's answer was a resounding "yes,"but we made 20 
recommendations about how things could be done better. The three main new rules from the
Department of the Interior are from that list.
We proposed disclosing the chemicals used during hydraulic fracturing, which is long overdue,
but we went further.
We recommended disclosure of where the fluids associated with drilling and hydraulic
fracturing come from, how they are used and how they are disposed. 
That was a consensus, a unanimous decision, of our committee as were all 20 of our 
recommendations.
What about the quality of well construction?
Zoback: This is really important for people to understand – the greatest threat to the
environment is improper well construction. Whether or not hydraulic fracturing is involved, 
you have to drill properly, cement properly and case wells properly. Problems with 
hydrocarbons escaping from wells are almost always due to poor well construction,
as it was with the Deepwater Horizon accident in the Gulf of Mexico. 
So, the rule that you have to assure that every well is constructed properly, not just every 
type of well – as originally proposed – is right.
What about wastewater pits?
Jackson: The new regulations bring federal lands up to the standards of most states
operating today. They also reflect the typical practices of responsible companies. 
Wastewater pits – a temporary place to store the water
 until it can be trucked away – are a good example. Fifty years ago, they were unlined. 
Then they were lined with plastic or sprayed with polymers. Today, most companies no 
longer use lined pits, though there are some exceptions. Liners can rip and you can have 
groundwater infiltration. Chemicals can migrate into the air and move downwind to where 
people live and breathe.                                                                                                                      

What about the costs?
Jackson: The additional cost is only about $10,000 per well, compared with average drilling 
costs per well of more than $5 million. And for the many companies already doing these things
the new rules won't cost them a dime.
What do the wastewater containers accomplish?
Zoback: Water injected during hydraulic fracturing can return with various contaminants and 
with small amounts of natural gas in it. If you just put the water into an open-air pit, the gas 
and other toxic compounds can escape into the air. A covered container makes it possible to 
capture those fugitive emissions, which is important locally to reduce air pollution and globally
to avoid unwanted methane emissions. Methane is the primary component of natural gas, 
and it's a very potent greenhouse gas.
Do the organizations suing to stop the regulations accurately represent most of the ?
Jackson: Publicly, most companies object to the new rules. Privately, companies already
using best practices often welcome the chance to have their competitors play by the same 
rules. The regulations will only affect companies that are cutting corners today.
Do you expect states that regulate the oil and gas industry lightly to adopt policies like
these for private and state-owned lands?
Jackson: In the short term, probably not. But, over time, people look at their rules and
compare them with other states, and they ask why they don't have comparable protections to
their neighbors. Then you can start to see adoption.
More immediately, I think the new rules will have a bigger effect outside the United States.
These standards send a signal to other countries that are developing their shale gas and oil
resources, such as Mexico, Argentina, South Africa and China. Many countries are looking at
the U.S. experience and deciding what to do.
What other rules could or should the federal government have included?
Zoback: When you poll people in areas where a lot of drilling is going on, their main
complaints are traffic and the overall level of industrial activities occurring in and around their 
communities. Regulatory agencies need to do more to reduce the cumulative impacts when 
there is going to be drilling of a lot of wells in an area. We need to do something analogous to
city planning. It's one thing to drill a few wells here, build a road there and a new pipeline over
there. But how does this work when there are many companies drilling hundreds of wells in a
given area?
Jackson: The bureau decided against requiring baseline testing of the quality of nearby
drinking water before drilling begins, and then testing on an ongoing basis. They should have 
made it a requirement in the way that many states already do.
This article and video were originally published in the Stanford Report.