Last week, the U.S. Dept. of the Interior announced new federal rules governing the disclosure of chemicals used in fracking fluid, which is injected under pressure into wells so as to fracture surrounding rock and release oil and natural gas. Officials said this will remove states from the disclosure process and will ensure uniformity of public information.
Good news: Some states didn't really have any disclosure requirements to speak of, allowing the oil/gas drillers to regulate themselves and do anything they wanted. So this is certainly a step in the right direction.
Not-so-good news: The new rules require disclosure only after the well has closed, and do not require disclosure of so-called "proprietary" chemicals. That's a day late and a dollar short.
Here's a future press release showing how this will play out in the real world:
EASTERN OHIO -- Chesapeake Energy today announced that it has concluded activities at its large oil/gas well in Salt Fork State Park. Abiding by federal disclosure rules, the company's official statement said that its fracking fluid "primarily contained Chanel No. 5 and Bud Light. Any other chemicals in our fluid are trade secrets*. Our Salt Fork operation was a great success, and now we're getting the frack out of town!"
(*Proprietary or not, we're talking about stuff like methanol, 2-butoxyethanol, ethylene glycol, diesel fuel, naphthalene, hydrochloric acid, tuluene, formaldehyde, sulfuric acid, and many others too numerous to list. The effects of these chemicals on human beings range from skin irritation to cancer. Effects on fish and wildlife are similarly unhappy.)
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