Hydraulic Fracturing and Domestic Water Wells

The merits and drawbacks of hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas development, presently exempted from regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act, are presently at the forefront of public debate.  In addition, legislative measures are being considered by the United States Congress and many state legislatures.  Meanwhile, courts consider lawsuits resulting from alleged damages from hydraulic fracturing that raise novel issues of law.

Hydraulic fracturing, a process defined by the United States Environmental Protection Agency as “the injection of fluid under pressure to facilitate the production of oil and natural gas”, impacts domestic wells in at least two ways.  First, the process may cause contamination of groundwater.  Second, water well contractors use a process, also called hydraulic fracturing and similar in some respects to the oil and gas process, in developing and conditioning water wells.

This paper summarizes regulatory and legal developments with respect to potential groundwater contamination resulting from hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas.   Since the practice is exempt from the Safe Drinking Water Act, the process is regulated only at the state level.  Little regulation directly addresses hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas.  However, indirect regulation, for example regulation of well construction, addresses the issue. 

In addition, the paper distinguishes hydraulic fracturing for water wells.  In contrast to oil and gas, extensive regulation of hydraulic fracturing for water wells exists in many states.  Many of these regulations encourage the use of the practice for water wells.  This paper discusses and analyzes these regulations.

 Finally, this paper discusses the potential impacts on domestic water wells from the controversy over hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas.  These impacts include potential groundwater contamination and potential federal and state regulation of hydraulic fracturing for water wells.