LITTLE ROCK — Gas companies were in violation of water quality rules more than half the time officials conducted inspections at sites in the Fayetteville Shale, according to a report released Tuesday by the Arkansas Public Policy Panel.
The report reflects inspections from 2006 to 2010 obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, the panel said in a news release.
“The good news is that ADEQ inspectors are doing a great job when they conduct an inspection,” Arkansas Public Policy Panel Executive Director Bill Kopsky said in a news release. “But the bad news is that a majority of gas production sites that were inspected had violations of our relatively weak state regulations. We don’t have nearly enough inspectors. And most disheartening, ADEQ is not taking corrective and enforcement actions for most violations when they find them.”
The study found 300 inspections revealing violations and only nine follow-up inspections, according to the release.
The panel is recommending ADEQ inspect each well site annually and conduct a followup inspection any time a violation is uncovered, among other suggested changes.
The full report is available at www.arpanel.org.
Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
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