Article in the NY Times.  New proposed bill requires O&G companies to disclose the chemicals they use in fracking.  GREAT.  Oh wait.  They don’t have to disclose them until after they have completed the drilling.  Hmmm.  That seems to defeat the purpose.

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Friday issued a proposed rule governing hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas on public lands that will for the first time require disclosure of the chemicals used in the process.

But in a significant concession to the oil industry, companies will have to reveal the composition of fluids only after they have completed drilling — a sharp change from the government’s original proposal, which would have required disclosure of the chemicals 30 days before a well could be started.

Read more at the NY Times >>

Another state wises up and takes proactive protective action by BANNING fracking: New Jersey.

Source : Energy Digital

On March 10, New Jersey—a state in the northeastern region of the United States—put a ban on the practice of hydraulic fracking for natural gas reserves. The state is following suit with New York, which instated a seven-month ban on hydraulic fracking on various natural gas drilling sites for fears of water contamination.

The bans come in response to alleged water contamination issues being reported from the neighboring state of Pennsylvania, which has been using the hydraulic fracking process to tap the large natural gas reserves recently discovered in the Marcellus shale fields. Various communities throughout the state are complaining about water pollution resulting from the chemicals pumped underground in the fracking process.

Read more >>

Source : EPA.gov

As hydraulic fracturing expands across the U.S. to recover gas reserves in hard to reach rock formations, there is a growing concern about the health and environmental impacts of this practice. EPA is undertaking a scientific study at the request of Congress to investigate the impacts that hydraulic fracturing may have on drinking water. EPA will use a transparent, peer-reviewed process and independent sources of information. The results of the study will be announced in 2012 and will be used to inform the public of identified risks and to contribute to evaluating the need for legislative or regulatory reforms.

As part of the study’s information gathering process, EPA has issued voluntary requests for information to help the Agency examine the potential impacts that hydraulic fracturing may have on drinking water. This request will help both provide data where there is a lack of adequate information and contribute to resolving any scientific uncertainties surrounding hydraulic fracturing. The information requested in the voluntary letters includes the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing fluid, data on the impacts of the chemicals on human health and the environment, and substances released from natural gas wells into the environment after hydraulic fracturing.

Go here to read the press release.

For information on hydraulic fracturing: http://www.epa.gov/hydraulicfracturing

Source : Waterworld.com

Chemicals associated with cancer, neurological problems and other health risks are being used to drill natural gas wells in Pennsylvania, but industry officials say there is no evidence that they are polluting drinking water.

The Associated Press obtained the list of chemicals used for extracting gas from the state’s Marcellus Shale. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection compiled the list, believed to be the first complete inventory of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, and plans to post it online.

Many of the more than 80 chemicals listed are found in consumer products, such as gasoline, salt, glues, paints and tobacco smoke.

States are in charge of regulating the hydraulic fracturing process, in which sand, water and chemical additives are blasted into a well to extract natural gas. Environmentalists worry that Pennsylvania is not doing enough to regulate the chemicals and ensure they do not get into drinking water, but state and industry officials say there is still no evidence of any contamination.

Among the chemicals listed is naphtahlene, a compound classified by U.S. EPA as a possible human carcinogen. Another, xylene, has been linked to central nervous system depression.

The list was compiled in recent months from information the industry is required to disclose. It follows increased speculation into natural gas drilling after the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and an HBO documentary that attacked the natural gas industry (Marc Levy, AP/San Jose Mercury News, June 28). — JP