Texas’ oil and gas drilling regulator will begin drafting rules requiring disclosure of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, a production technique that has been a source of contention in some communities over the past year.
The Texas House of Representatives passed a bill this past weekend that would require operators of Texas oil and gas wells to file online forms disclosing the contents of fracturing fluids – a mix of sand, water and a variety of chemicals that in some cases includes hazardous substances. The mix is pumped into wells at high pressure to break apart dense shale formations in order to release natural gas or oil for production.
The Senate passed the bill last week but the final bill has yet to be signed by Gov. Rick Perry.
Elizabeth Ames Jones, Chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission, said Tuesday the commission will begin crafting the rules.
“A common sense frac fluid disclosure policy will balance the Railroad Commission’s dual mission to prevent the waste of Texas’s energy resources, and to protect the environment and the public’s health and safety,” Jones said in a statement.
(And lest anyone think she’s backsliding on industry-friendly principles, the politically ambitious Republican’s statement reiterated prior statements that “it is geologically impossible for fracturing fluid or natural gas or oil to migrate upward through thousands of feet of rock, sometimes miles, to adversely affect ground water.”)
Currently, companies can voluntarily register their fracking fluids online via a website developed by the Groundwater Protection Council called FracFocus. But the Texas law would make the reporting mandatory.
Under the law companies can choose to withhold the identity of some of the components in fracking fluids if they deem the information to be proprietary or a trade secret. Only the landowner where the well is drilled, an adjacent landowner or a state agency can appeal the trade secret designation, according to the language of the law. Any disputes will be handled by the Railroad Commission.
Industry statements have been largely supportive of the bill.
“We believe this transparency and an open dialogue with communities in the areas where we operate are important to demonstrate how the development of domestic natural gas resources can be done safely and responsibly for the benefit of all Americans,” said Karen Matusic, a spokeswoman for Exxon Mobil, which recently acquired XTO Energy, a major shale gas producer.
The response from one environmental group is mixed.
The Environmental Defense Fund called the disclosure bill meaningful because it’s an acknowledgment by industry and Republican lawmakers that disclosure should be mandatory and should address all fracturing chemicals that may be harmful to public health and the environment.
But EDF said the measure has shortcomings that should discourage other states or the federal government from adopting it without revision.
It doesn’t allow for a “simple, statewide list of what chemicals are used by who and in what quantities,” says EDF senior policy adviser Scott Anderson in a statement. It also may not be implemented until 2013 because of provisions allegedly inserted by Devon Energy, the largest driller in the Barnett shale in North Texas.
That, says Anderson, is “an absurdly long time for implementation.”
Thank goodness for cheap natural gas!
It doesn’t seem like much to simply ask the O&G companies to tell us what they are pumping into the ground beneath our homes and businesses, does it? After all, in some(many?)cases, they use diesel fuel and other pollutants. On top of that, they aren’t even really sure just where the stuff they pump down the hole actually goes. All they do know is it usually makes the gas easier to get out. I am all for more production of natural gas, but anyone who produces it must be prudent and accountable.
AND, when you clowns finally realize that the 7.5 magnitude EARTHQUAKE that happens in texas within the next few months and you waste time like you do building highways with worthless research that’s already been done in Colorado and other places that PROVES fracking causes earthquakes, then it’s too late! Your tap water in your house will light on fire;… your children and family members will get sick from the water poison and die;… IF you crack the aquifers that lay under much of the land in texas and contaminate them – you’re done… Not even mexico will take you back…
Winski, Winski, Winski…perfect example of the kind of audience the movie Gasland appealed to.
I miss Battlestar Galactica. :(
Winski, how much geology have you studied? Even one year’s worth? Probably not even that.
While I don’t know that fracking can cause earthquakes, I don’t have a doubt that water tables have been contaminated by fracking fluids and natural gas while doing the fracking process.
I can’t imaging Gasland “appealing” to anyone, but it is scary and truthful. So as for the “perfect kind of audience” then I guess those that are open to the truth would be…
@ Michael S.
So say we all.
Winski has it all wrong. That’s not what happens — that’s nonsense from movies.
Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking” as it’s called in the energy industry, actually causes the Earth to spin wildly off its axis and crash into the Sun, killing everyone in a fiery Armageddon.
Please, people, please make sure you have your facts straight. You don’t want to have to change horses on the way to the Apocalypse.
Winski is referring to the potential links between fracking and recent increased seismic activity (earthquake swarm) in Arkansas.
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/03/01/fracking-earthquakes-arkansas-man-experts-warn/
The UK is looking into this as well after unusual quakes were reported in the area of gas exploration/fracking.
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/uk-gas-drilling-halted-after-quakes-20110601-1ff4e.html
To all the deniers of science, how about this…
You guys all move to the place with fracking and drink that water.
Leave the rest of the water alone for those that don’t deny science.
Then in 10 years, lets see the results. I think that would make for the perfect experiment.
Fracking is not new — I built the machines when I worked at Stewart and Stevenson in the mid 90s. If there is a surge of problems today then the big question is why now all of a sudden? Especially since it’s been used for almost a quarter century thus far?
Why not go ahead and say it out loud: The real reason gas companies don’t want to confirm what they use in the fracturing process is they don’t want to be held responsible if their stuff is found in someone’s well.
Ever heard this one: “I don’t have a dog. That’s not my dog. Well, my dog doesn’t bite”
well fracturing in arkansas was stopped because of the repeated earthquakes.
and fracking does indeed pollute ground water in some areas. and you can never allow oil companies to regulate themselves- they are in it for the money which is fine.
and really shouldn’t we stop throwing away billions of dollars and young soldier’s lives in afghanistan and other toilets- take that moeny and develop alternative fules and quit using dirty polluting oil-a nineteenth century fuel- and help set a clean renewable example for the rest of the world ?
To those here whom attempt to discredit Gasland I say you have not watched it. I started watching with an open mind, meaning I thought here goes another one of those feel good documentaries that my house partner makes me watch once in a while. I ended the movie feeling a punch to the gut. Those are real people with real damage, personal and enviornmental, caused by the fracking process. If you have not seen it watch it. The movie explains it all, even down to the truth as to who these companies sidestep the clean air and water acts. I’m still pi**ed off about what is happening to our country with this process and you will be too.
@tboy in houston you say ” To those here whom attempt to discredit Gasland ” ……..
Bwwaahahahahaha
Attempt ??? That sorry piece of crap has been totally debunked so many times by so many people, I would not even bother to ” attempt to discredit ” the thing.
hahahahaha
The Republicans will continue to say this until it contaminates their own water wells…then they’ll sue everyone withing 1000 miles of the well:
“it is geologically impossible for fracturing fluid or natural gas or oil to migrate upward through thousands of feet of rock, sometimes miles, to adversely affect ground water.”
How do they know this? What research, studies are they quoting..?