This week on the ProPublica podcast, we take a close look at the EPA’s recent decision to conduct a nationwide scientific study on the natural gas drilling technique called hydraulic fracturing. ProPublica reporters Joaquin Sapien and Abrahm Lustgarten talk about the natural gas industry’s response to the EPA’s announcement and the role ProPublica’s reporting has played in informing the decision by the federal agency. While the natural gas industry believes the EPA study is a solution in search of a problem, Lustgarten say the EPA seems to be taking an objective look at the issue. The reporters talk about how to determine whether fracturing caused water contamination and who will ultimately be responsible for regulating drilling activity, why everyone claims to support the EPA’s study, and what the EPA is going to examine in its research.

Stories Discussed in This Podcast

Broad Scope of EPA’s Fracturing Study Raises Ire of Gas Industry

EPA Launches National Study of Hydraulic Fracturing

Buried Secrets: Gas Drilling’s Environmental Threat