In December 2010 Jane Van Ryan put up a post urging us to not rush to judgment on fracking. The case in question was in Texas where the EPA issued an emergency order:

"…that 'tried, convicted and sentenced' a natural gas company accused of polluting two water wells in Texas with methane gas. Weeks later, evidence shows that the company Range Resources was not responsible for the methane leaks. As the article authored by Alex Mills of the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers explains, the water wells were drilled in 2005 and Range Resources drilled two natural gas wells nearby in 2009. In August this year, the water wells' owners complained to the state agency that oversees oil and natural gas drilling that their wells had become contaminated. They blamed Range Resources.  Tests showed... more »

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson telling a House committee there's no evidence hydraulic fracturing has affected water supplies isn't totally new news. Jackson has said similar things before. But in the context of the current public debate over "fracking," it's huge. Here's Associated Press energy reporter Dina Cappiello's Tweet from the hearing:

@dinacappiello EPA admin Lisa Jackson at House oversight hearing: "I'm not aware of any proven case where the fracking process itself has affected water."

Think about it: Of all the officials in the federal government, Jackson would have heard if fracking - injecting a mixture that's 99.5 percent water and sand into subterranean rock to free trapped natural gas and oil - was tainting water. Anywhere.

Maybe the administrator's latest statement will... more »