"EPA Asked To Regulate Fracking's Toxic Air Emissions"

"Seeking to close what a lawyer called 'serious gaps' in regulation, 64 environmental and community groups on Tuesday petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency to clamp down on toxic air emissions from oil and gas operations.

The 112-page petition, filed by the public interest law firm Earthjustice, asks the EPA to use its authority under the Clean Air Act to develop 'robust emission standards' limiting the amounts of benzene, formaldehyde and other harmful chemicals that can be released by wells and associated equipment.

'Some of the documented health effects of the many types of (hazardous air pollutants) emitted during oil and gas production include increased risks of cancer, respiratory diseases, and birth defects, among others,' the petition says."

Jim Morris reports for the Center for Public Integrity and InsideClimate News May 13, 2014.