Hydraulic Fracking And Protection of The Environment And Water

Congressman Don Beyer is a Democrat from Alexandria, Virginia. He is currently serving his second term in the House Of Representatives and represents Virginia’s 8th district. Virginia has 11 seats in the house, he is 1 of the 4 Democrats. He serves on the House Committee on Natural Resources, Joint Economic Committee, Oversight Subcommittee, and is a Vice ranking member of the Science space and Technology Committee. In the House Committee on Natural Resources he is on the Subcommittee on Water, Power, and Oceans as well as the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources. Don Beyer is also endorsed by the Sierra Club. The Sierra Club is an environmental organization that is dedicated to protecting the environment and helping pass environmental acts such as the Clean Water Act. He is a very strong believer in fighting global climate change and in protecting our environment.

Virginia’s 8th district is located in Northern Virginia and includes Alexandria, Arlington, Falls Church, and parts of Fairfax County. The district is across the Potomac river from Washington-D.C. The area is one of the most ethnically diverse districts in the nations as well as one of the most educated. It also is home to over 50,000 veterans and about 10,000 active duty service members. The major employers of the district include technology based companies, the federal government, and government contractors. The main issues of the district revolve around federal employees, veterans, defense, transportation, and water quality of the Potomac. The Cook Partisan Voter Index is D+21. This means that in the past two presidential elections the district voted 21% more Democratic that the national average. Don Beyer in the 2016 elections received 68.4% of the votes, while the Republican candidate only received 27.3% of the votes. He is up for re-election this year and the chances of him not being re-elected are extremely slim.

The bill in question would grant permission to the state to regulate hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on any land in the state including federal land. Federal lands can include public lands, National Forests, and lands under the jurisdiction of the Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation. If fracking is done incorrectly it has the potential to contaminate groundwater. Don Beyer has expressed his concern for water contamination and degradation of water quality from fracking. He has expressed extreme unease for the potential degradation of the water quality in the Potomac River which runs along the 8th district. In a letter to the former Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, he stated “the potential degradation of the Potomac River water quality, essential to millions of households throughout the region, is too great a risk”. According to the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin an average of about 486 million gallons of water is withdrawn every day for water supply in the Washington area such as the 8th district. And fracking in the George Washington National Forest in Northern Virginia could lead to potential contamination which would be dangerous to the public if used.

Don Beyer is a very big supporter of the clean water. He is on the Subcommittee on Water, Power, and Oceans. Don Beyer would want to defeat the bill in question because it supports fracking and he believes fracking negatively impacts water quality. Beyer has consistently defended the Clean Water Act. In 2015 Don Beyer voted against an amendment to the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act which would prevent the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers from enforcing regulations that would stop discharge of waste material and could lead to dirty drinking water. This directly relates to the bill in question because the bill in question would give the power to regulate fracking to the states and not to Federal organizations such as the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers. There are also many loopholes in many Acts that exempt fracking from them such as the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Clean Air Act and all of these were mentioned in the bill as measures in place to keep the states from breaking regulations. Without the federal organizations oversights states will be able to create their own fracking regulations that benefit the state economically and not environmentally.

Don Beyer also voted against was an amendment to the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act which would weaken the EPA’s power to protect the Chesapeake Bay watershed which covers 6 states including Virginia’s 8th district. Don Beyer believes the federal governments organizations such as the EPA should still be able to have power to protect the environment and penalize states that don’t. However with acts such the one being proposed it takes away from the federal government’s ability to regulate and protect federal lands and allows the state to choose whether they frack on it or not. State laws are also very loosely enforced without the EPA and other federal organizations. Lastly Don Beyer offered an amendment in 2017 to stop a “minibus” spending package that would cut environmental funds and allow for fewer regulations on water pollution.

During the hearing questions my Congressman will ask questions revolving around the state and its ability to regulate its laws without the help of federal organizations. For example how the federal government plans to continue regulating the environmental statues already in place as states create different regulations and policies. Many states might have different regulations that fit their states geography and conditions and therefore each states regulations will differ from each other. So how might the states plan to keep up with industry and federal standards if they have their own localized regulations. Also questions on safety of fracking and the effects it might have on drinking water since in the report the latest report surveyed that found no consequences was performed in 2014 and the bill was created in 2017. For example how the bill has reports claiming there is no evidence of water being contaminated yet without proper casing and disposal groundwater can be contaminated and there are many cases of this happening in the states.

Don Beyer would be against the bill in question because he believes fracking has the potential to contaminate and degrade the quality of water many use for drinking. Giving the states the power to regulate fracking would further weaken the power of the federal organizations to impose stricter regulations needed protect the environment and water.