Energy industry groups and states that oppose new U.S. rules
for hydraulic fracturing on public lands are headed to court this month to try
to block the regulations a day before they are to take effect.
Foes of the regulations will go before a federal judge on
June 23 to seek a preliminary injunction. The Interior Department rules, slated
to take effect on June 24, would require companies to provide data on chemicals
used in hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and to take steps to prevent leakage
from oil and gas wells on federally owned land.
This is the "first tranche in this battle," said
Dan Naatz, senior vice president for government relations at the Independent
Petroleum Association of America (IPAA), one of the groups seeking the
injunction.
Fracking involves injection of large amounts of water, sand
and chemicals underground at high pressure to extract fuel. Environmental
groups and some neighbors of oil and gas wells have linked fracking to water
pollution and some have linked it to increased earthquake activity.
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Industry and oil- and gas-producing states have long opposed
federal rules on fracking. Preferring to keep regulation in state hands, IPAA
and the Western Energy Alliance filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for
the District of Wyoming challenging the rules minutes after they were issued in
March.
The groups said the rules were "arbitrary and
unnecessary" burdens for drillers.
Wyoming and Colorado soon followed with their own lawsuit,
arguing that the rules would infringe upon their sovereign authority to regulate
hydraulic fracturing. North Dakota also intervened in the case against the
regulations.
The groups and the states argue that allowing the rules to
move forward before the resolution of the legal challenges would harm industry
and waste state resources.
Mark Barron, an attorney with Baker & Hostetler who is
representing the oil groups, said he expects the judge will issue a decision on
the injunction during the June 23 hearing, although this is not a requirement.
After that decision is handed down, Barron said it could
take anywhere from four months to more than a year to wrap up arguments in the
case.
The Interior Department does not comment on pending
legal matters. In its brief opposing the injunction, the department argued that
companies would only be affected by the rules if they choose to engage in
fracking on federal lands. (Reuters)