The Halliburton Loophole Despite the widespread use of the
practice, and the risks hydraulic fracturing poses to human
health and safe drinking water supplies, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency ("EPA") does not regulate the injection of
fracturing fluids under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The oil and
gas industry is the only industry in America that is allowed by
EPA to inject known hazardous materials -- unchecked -- directly
into or adjacent to underground drinking water supplies. This
exemption from the SDWA has become known as the "Halliburton
loophole" because it is widely perceived to have come about as a
result of the efforts of Vice President Dick Cheney's Energy
Task Force. Before taking office, Cheney was CEO of Halliburton
-- which patented hydraulic fracturing in the 1940s, and remains
one of the three largest manufacturers of fracturing fluids.
Halliburton staff were actively involved in review of the 2004
EPA report on hydraulic fracturing. Several oil and gas
producing states have regula