PROFITS OVER PEOPLE ALERT: Lawmakers Call For EPA To Steer Clear Of Gas-Drilling Regulation

By Ryan Tracy, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- A group of House lawmakers Thursday called for the U.S. government to stay out of regulating natural-gas drilling, saying the responsibility ought to be left to state authorities.

The calls, from lawmakers from Pennsylvania and other states where drilling occurs, came as two federal agencies study the safety of a controversial drilling technique used to extract natural gas.

Industry supporters fear the Environmental Protection Agency, which is conducting a long-term study on how gas drilling affects drinking water, will adopt policies or rules that slow U.S. gas production. A production boom in recent years has been followed by growing concerns about the drilling's environmental impact.

The Energy Department also has convened an advisory panel to study drilling safety. The panel held its first meeting this week.

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Local landowners, others repeat fracking concerns

In other states and increasingly in Ohio, natural gas companies have been offering residents up to several thousand dollars per acre for oil and gas leases. But some who have signed the leases have reported illness due to the chemicals getting into their water supplies. In isolated instances, property owners in other states have reported their tap water catching fire due to chemicals infiltrating their wells.

"If people take what the industry offers when they show up on their doorsteps, they're not getting (a deal), even if (fracking) is something they want to do," Phillips said of the leases. "They're not getting as good a deal, and it's allowing a lot more profit to the company and less to the landowners."

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