The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[DewDiligence]

Pressure Builds to Reveal 'Fracking' Chemicals

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704679204575646942322414092.html

›DECEMBER 1, 2010
By TENNILLE TRACY

The Obama administration is considering a policy that would force natural-gas drillers on federal lands to disclose the chemicals they use during a process known as hydraulic fracturing.

The gas industry's increased use of the process to exploit huge reserves of gas locked in shale formations has raised concerns that the chemicals used could contaminate drinking-water supplies. Those concerns were highlighted when the New York State Assembly passed a bill Monday that bans new hydraulic fracturing in the state until May 2011, to allow time for further study of the oil and natural-gas drilling technique [#msg-57238699].

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said during a public forum Tuesday that his department was considering a policy to force companies to disclose the chemicals in the fluids. "We have not yet settled on how exactly we are going to move forward with respect to that issue," he said.

The Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management oversees 250 million acres of public land, and 90% of wells drilled on public lands employ hydraulic fracturing, said bureau Deputy Director Marcilynn Burke. Onshore gas wells on lands managed by the bureau account for 11% of the U.S. natural-gas supply, the department said.

Natural-gas companies and drilling operators say fears about fracking chemicals contaminating water supplies are exaggerated. They are reluctant to disclose the chemicals because they say the composition of those fluids are trade secrets.‹