Residents back fracing limits

Poll shows two-thirds want fed oversight

by Katie Burford
Herald Staff Writer

Article Last Updated; Thursday, September 17, 2009 12:59AM

On the Net

To view the survey and results, go to www.worc.org/2009-Water-Poll.

Results of an opinion poll released this week show a majority of respondents support legislation that would bring hydraulic fracturing, a practice commonly used to recover natural gas, under federal regulation.

The poll found 67 percent of respondents in the 3rd Congressional District support the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act, federal legislation introduced in June that would revoke the exemption of fracing from regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

The survey was conducted by Harstad Strategic Research, a Boulder-based polling and market research company, for the Western Organization of Resource Councils, a network of grass-roots community organizations.

In fracing, chemicals, water and sand are pumped into a well at high pressure to fracture rock formations and release the gas.

Environmentalists have expressed concern about the potential for fracing fluids to contaminate drinking water supplies, but industry representatives say the risk of contamination is negligible and worry new regulations will significantly escalate costs at a time when revenues from production are plummeting.

U.S. Rep. John Salazar, D-Manassa, who represents the 3rd District, so far has declined to add his name to the bill.

The survey, conducted July 28-30, consisted of about 500 random telephone interviews of registered voters in the 3rd District, which covers western and south-central Colorado. The margin of error was 4.4 percent.

Respondents were asked this question:
"Some members of Congress are considering a new federal law called the (FRAC Act), which would regulate fracing under the Safe Drinking Water Act, and it would require anyone using hydraulic fracing to disclose the chemicals they are using in the fracing process.

"Do you favor or oppose this new federal law?"

As a follow-up question, they were asked to qualify their position: "Is that strongly, or not so strongly?"

Fifty-six percent said they strongly support the legislation.

Of the 504 respondents, 36 percent identified themselves as Democrats, while 38 percent said they were Republicans.

Salazar has sponsored legislation to regulate fracing in the past, and in July said he remains open to the possibility but worried about its impact on industry.

"We need to recognize that developers also have legitimate concerns about maintaining their ability to extract this resource," he said at the time.

A call to a Salazar spokesman was not returned Wednesday afternoon.

The House bill was introduced by U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Denver.

U.S. Sens. Mark Udall and Michael Bennet have not signed onto the Senate version, which was introduced by Sen. Robert Casey, D-Pennsylvania. Tara Trujillo, communications director for Udall, said Udall is talking to stakeholders and is waiting on results of a study aimed at discovering the impacts of fracing fluids on drinking water.

Jeff Lane, chief of staff for Bennet, said the senator "believes that when extracting our state's natural gas resources, our approach must be responsible, balanced and mindful of the potential effects to the environment and adjacent communities."

Lane said the Obama administration and the Environmental Protection Agency are reviewing fracing to ensure the process doesn't pose a danger to drinking water and rural communities, and Bennet supports that effort.

A non-binding resolution in support of the federal legislation was introduced by La Plata Commissioner Wally White in July but voted down by commissioners Kellie Hotter and Joelle Riddle.

Last month, Riddle introduced a follow-up resolution that called for a review of fracing by the National Academy of Sciences, but commissioners chose not to vote on it after White criticized it as not going far enough.

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