EPA releases new rules on fracking emissions...

Responding to a court order, EPA has finalized and published new rules that require all drilling companies to use portable tanks called “green completions,” to capture harmful emissions as they come out of the ground. Approximately half of the natural gas wells in the U.S. already rely on green completions technology to capture natural gas that might otherwise escape the well. The captured gas can subsequently be sold to offset part of the cost of compliance.

Picture: Green completions equipment. Credit: Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission

The new rules provide no exemptions for smaller companies, requiring all to eventually use the process, but extended the final deadline until January 2015. Until then companies will be able to burn off the emissions in a process known as “flaring,” which reduces many emissions. The rules will cover the estimated 13,000 -20,000 U.S. wells that are hydraulically fractured or re-fractured each year.

According to the National Resources Defense Council (NDRC), "One of the biggest sources of dangerous air pollution from natural gas “fracking” is the whoosh of pollution that rushes from the well, like popping the top on a soda can, in the first few days after fracking is completed and the well is about to start production."

These initial releases can amount to hundreds of tons of include nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds, which can cause smog, benzene, a carcinogen, and methane, which contributes to global warming. Up to 95 percent of these emissions can be captured using the required equipment.

For more information:
EPA Issues Updated, Achievable Air Pollution Standards for Oil and Natural Gas - EPA News Release
Overview of Final Amendments to Air Regulations for the Oil and Natural Gas Industry 
"Leading Companies Already Meet EPA's "Fracking" Air Pollution Standards" - NDRC