According to the EPA, an estimated 2 billion gallons of wastewater are injected each day into tens of thousands of underground wells operating around the country. A coalition of US environmental groups has sued the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), claiming that the government has not sufficiently regulated waste disposal connected to oil and gas drilling. The lawsuit, filed in federal court on Tuesday by Earthworks, Sierra Club and other groups, claims that EPA officials have failed to adequately protect public health from hazardous chemicals used during drilling operations at sites such as Such waste is currently sent to underground wells; a process that has been connected to an increased rate of earthquakes in states including Oklahoma, Colorado and Ohio. The lawsuit calls for a ban on the dumping of waste water in areas where it could pollute drinking water and landfills. Last year, the Obama administration passed measures intended to limit the potential for water contamination as a result of fracking, however those measures only applied to fracking on federal lands.
A coalition of US environmental groups has sued the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), claiming that the government has not sufficiently regulated waste disposal connected to oil and gas drilling. The lawsuit, filed in federal court on Tuesday by Earthworks, Sierra Club and other groups, claims that EPA officials have failed to adequately protect public health from hazardous chemicals used during drilling operations at sites such as Such waste is currently sent to underground wells; a process that has been connected to an increased rate of earthquakes in states including Oklahoma, Colorado and Ohio. The lawsuit calls for a ban on the dumping of waste water in areas where it could pollute drinking water and landfills. Last year, the Obama administration passed measures intended to limit the potential for water contamination as a result of fracking, however those measures only applied to fracking on federal lands.