SAB Panel Weighs Recommendation For EPA To Revise Draft Fracking Study

摘要

A Science Advisory Board (SAB) panel reviewing EPA's draft analysis of the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water is weighing whether to recommend that the agency revise its draft conclusion that the study found no evidence of "widespread, systemic impacts" on drinking water. Panel members during an Oct. 28-30 meeting held in Washington, D.C., raised concerns over the draft finding, suggesting the agency did not clearly define what would constitute "widespread" and "systemic" impacts and that a paucity of data hindered EPA's ability to draw such a conclusion. James Bruckner, of the University of Georgia's pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences department, said Oct. 29 that the draft language, as written, makes "too strong a statement" given "fragmented and insufficient information."