Stiffer rules looming on shale drilling
Stiffer rules looming on shale drilling
By JENNIFER A. DLOUHY and TOM FOWLER, HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Updated 08:27 p.m., Wednesday, October 5, 2011
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Regulators moved on two tracks Wednesday to stiffen standards for natural gas drilling and force companies to shed more light on the chemicals used in the process.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told reporters that the federal government is poised to advance new requirements on shale gas extraction from public lands as soon as next month.
Meanwhile, during a public hearing in Austin, speakers told Texas regulators what kind of disclosure requirements should be imposed on gas drillers. The Texas Railroad Commission is developing specific requirements under a new Texas law mandating that companies reveal the chemicals used to hydraulically fracture wells.
The hydraulic fracturing process involves blasting a mix of water, sand and some chemicals underground and at high pressures to unlock natural gas trapped in dense shale formations.
The Railroad Commission's draft rule would require companies to list ingredients on a public website, but it would make exceptions for chemicals considered to be proprietary or trade secrets. All information, including proprietary details, would have to be revealed to health professionals and emergency workers, under the plan.
Rice University chemistry professor Andrew Barron told the commission the proposal goes further than Food and Drug Administration requirements for consumer products. For example, he said, soft drink makers aren't required to disclose what's in "flavoring" listed on soda labels.
Because common materials in fracturing fluids include thickening agents used in ice cream and chemicals used to purify drinking water, disclosure could go a long way to easing public concerns about the process, Barron said.
"Once you understand what is being used in a frac job is similar to what you're consuming every day, it becomes demystified," he said.
The oil and gas industry already has begun providing more details on the fluids, responding to concerns by environmentalists and policymakers that the materials could contaminate groundwater supplies. In Washington, Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee also have raised red flags about the injection of diesel at some hydraulically fractured sites.
'Overall pleased'
Cyrus Reed, conservation director for the Texas Chapter of the Sierra Club, said he was "overall pleased" with the state's rule-making process and was encouraged the Railroad Commission appeared to be moving faster than required by law to get the new rules in place. But he urged the panel to keep in provisions requiring the Texas attorney general's office to review challenges to trade secrets claims - instead of providing a loophole for the industry.
Kathryn Baecht, of the North Texas non-profit Citizens Organizing for Resources & Environment, was less enthusiastic about the rules and fracturing in general.
Loss of water
"That fact that we're taking millions of gallons of water out of the hydraulic cycle is a crime," she said, referring to the amount of water
