06.04.15

Grijalva on EPA Oil and Gas Impact Analysis: “Industry Will Spin This as Clean Bill of Health – Nothing is Further From the Truth”

Washington, D.C. - Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva released the following statement on the EPA’s announcement that oil and gas development presents risks to water quality.

“Today’s announcement will be spun by industry lobbyists as a clean bill of health for oil and gas developers around the country. Nothing could be further from the truth, as EPA’s own findings have shown. Irresponsible oil and gas development puts water quality at risk for millions of Americans, and no amount of spin can change that. Congress has wrongly exempted energy developers from laws that protect the very resources they most frequently damage, including our drinking water. Those exemptions need to end. EPA’s finding today of ‘important vulnerabilities to drinking water resources’ isn’t news to Americans around the country living near energy development sites where companies have cut corners, ignored warnings, and treated safety and public health as afterthoughts. Our laws need to start protecting those Americans rather than shielding irresponsible oil and gas developers who continue their ongoing pollution of our nation’s water sources.”