Drinking water contaminated with Arsenic is regarded as a major environmental and health concern as contact with arsenic results in incidents of diseases and severe medical conditions. Arsenic is a compound that occurs naturally from underground rocks and soil and it also finds its ways to water sources through the rocks, soils and human activities such as wood preservatives and paint. As a result, drinking water from the underground sources in some regions is contaminated with high levels of arsenic in comparison to the surface water. The federal government and other environmental agencies such as the U.S. Environmental Protection agency (EPA) have developed drinking water standards against contamination from arsenic (Environmental Protection agency).
There have been several drinking water standards that have been developed in the U.S. so as to regulate the level of arsenic contamination in drinking water. According to the Environmental Protection agency, the mean arsenic quantities according to the samples taken from underground water are often approximated at 1 part for every billion litres of water even though in other areas high quantities of arsenic contamination are reported. Several changes and developments in accordance with drinking water standards have been enacted particularly in line with contamination from arsenic. The EPA in the 2001 endorsed regulations that were supposed to check on arsenic contamination in drinking water. Accordingly, the 2001 Safe Drinking Water Act laid down a limit for arsenic contamination in drinking water at 10 ppb while it replaced the early limit of 50 ppb that had been in force since 1975 (Bamberger 60).
The Safe Drinking Water Act that set the level of arsenic contamination in drinking water at 10 ppb was very costly to water utility firms but the firms were given a period of five years so as to comply with the standards. The safe drinking water standard for contamination of arsenic was put into effect in 2006 and as a result the federal government and other environmental agencies have embarked in ensuring that firms and water utilities comply with the regulations (Bamberger 65).
Federal regulations for managing environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas development
Hydraulic fracturing is a procedure used in enhancing the surge of oil and natural gas from deep wells that are drilled into the permeable rocks formation. Hydro-fracking exploration process has been used in the United States since the 1940s and the process uses a mixture of water, sand or propellants and other chemicals that are injected into permeable rocks under high pressure. The process creates fractures in the permeable shale rocks creating an interconnected network of fractures. The sand particles, propellants and chemicals keep the fractures open and as a result the oil and gas flow from the pores in the permeable rocks formation onto the oil wells (Mukherjee 158).
The application of hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas development has resulted in significant alarms as it adversely affects human health and the environment. Similarly, hydraulic fracturing process has resulted in the contamination of the ground water sources with the chemicals that are used in hydraulic fracturing process. During the process, contaminated water can flow back into the surface waters, oil and gas reservoirs can interconnect with the ground water reservoirs and methane gas is usually released to the atmosphere resulting in environmental and atmospheric pollution (United States Environmental Protection agency).
There are numerous present federal regulations in addressing the environmental effects that result from hydraulic fracturing. The current federal regulations that are applied in checking the environmental effects of hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas development include the Safe Drinking Water Act, Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act and the Resources Conserving and Recovery Act. According to the Environmental Protection agency, the Safe Drinking Water Act controls the underground injections processes for instance hydraulic fracturing that contaminates drinking water sources. In managing environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing, the Clean Air Act controls the release of air pollutants such as methane from activities that cause environmental pollution impacts. On the other hand, Clean Water Act regulates the discharge of pollutants into water bodies mainly onto the surface waters such as lakes from the activities related to hydraulic fracturing. In addition, the Comprehensive Environment Responses and Compensation, and Liabilities Act hold the hydraulic fracturing firms accountable for environmental pollution incidents that occur due to their operations (Mukherjee 162).
Works Cited
Bamberger, Michelle. Hydraulic Fracturing. Impacts of gas drilling on human and animal health. Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy, 22.1, 52–78, 2012.
Environmental Protection agency. Arsenic in Drinking Water. 6 March 2013. Web. 5 May 2013. http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/rulesregs/sdwa/arsenic/index.cfm.
Mukherjee, Amitava and Sengupta Mrinal. Arsenic contamination in groundwater: A global perspective with emphasis on the Asian scenario. Journal of Health Population and Nutrition, 24.2, 142–163, 2009. Print.
United States Environmental Protection agency. Natural Gas Extraction - Hydraulic Fracturing. 12 Dec. 2012. Web. 5 May 2013. http://www2.epa.gov/hydraulicfracturing.
