Texas Could Require Disclosure of Drilling Chemicals
Hydraulic fracturing, an increasingly common method of extracting natural gas that involves shooting a concoction of water, sand and chemicals deep underground, has sparked controversy around the country — not least because drillers mostly keep their chemical formulas secret. But Texas, the leading gas-producing state, could help change industry practices by requiring public disclosure of the chemicals used.
A bill filed this month by state Rep. Jim Keffer, R-Eastland, who chairs the House Committee on Energy Resources, would create a website containing information about the chemicals used in each well. The bill has won praise from both industry and major environmental ...
Comments (13)
laurie villanueva
It would be a positive development if this bill passes. The public has a right to this information, especially considering. But it is ridiculous that this battle is being fought on a state by state basis. Fracking should be regulated by the EPA. The article mentions possible contamination of water sources in Texas, but fracking has been implicated in this type of problem all over the country. http://www.water-contamination-from-shale.com/
Norman Allen
What? Disclose what is used in drilling? Are you crazy? The people will know and then the chemicals will hit the fan all over the oilmen's face... How cool would be that. Let industries to do whatever they want because they have money and they provide "campaign contributions" to our beloved regulators... Our mottler should be, if you have money in Texas, you are welcomed to poison the rif raf's water, air, food,children... Money entitles you to do whatever you like, even diverting your sewers people's backyards...Don't let the rif raf environmentalists, academics, the "liberals", mitigate anything industry does in Texas... We are pro-bidness!
Gary Skaggs via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Never happen in Texas. It would be a tremendous boon for the public if they made it so, but it will never happen in Texas in my lifetime.
Karen Cummings via Texas Tribune on Facebook
If Texans were smart, they would demand this.
Mary Lynn VanZandt Neill via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Sounds like something we need to know....yes?
Gregory S Windham via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Bad Idea. Never work. Too much oversight. Ridiculous. Not enough time in the day. The H2O
Connor Kilpatrick via Texas Tribune on Facebook
"Bad idea"? "Too much oversight?" So people don't have a right to know exactly how their water supply is being poisoned by gas companies looking to strike it rich? You rightwingers are just off the charts these days. Seriously. It's like a mass epidemic of mental illness.
Sharon Wilson
HB 3328 has a long way to go before it can be called a disclosure bill. This bill is a way for industry to claim transparency without actually being transparent.
First, there is no way to challenge what industry claims as trade secrets. That means industry can claim trade secret on any chemical and there is nothing anyone can do about it.
The trade secrets sections of the bill are so dense you need a machete to get through them. That part needs to be narrowed.
There is no notice to water users. We also need language elsewhere in the bill to ensure water users within a mile of the fracturing site are notified that chemical disclosure has been made. Otherwise, how can water users use the information to conduct baseline testing?
I"m not sure what Scott Anderson meant when he said:
"“E.D.F. believes that passage of this bill would create the nation’s strongest disclosure system,” said Scott Anderson" And "Federal legislation introduced in Congress would require disclosure of fracking chemicals. But Mr. Anderson, of the Environmental Defense Fund, said the Texas legislation is stronger than those proposals."
That's just not so. Even Wyoming has a much stronger disclosure bill than Keffer's bill and the FRAC Act is also a stronger bill. http://coloradoindependent.com/79273/degette-polis-once-again-introduce-frac-act-to-bring-federal-oversight-to-gas-fracking
Erika Holzinger via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Karen texans will never change.And its sad oh well.
Jason Kendall via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Mention hydraulic fracturing to the average Texan and watch the life go out of their dim eyes. It's all Texans can do to not blow themselves up with the gas stove.
Susan Read via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Read the bill, please. It has way too much in there about "trade secrets." I love it that their strategy to make it "appear" to be a GREAT bill is working.
Susan Read via Texas Tribune on Facebook
NOT a great bill: http://tinyurl.com/47j36lx
Susan Read
Good grief. Earth to Austin ~ there is such a huge disconnect between what is going on in Austin and what is going on with shale gas drilling. This is very, very disappointing. The article says, 'the industry" is very pleased with "this bill" RED FLAG. Why is this a good thing? We here in the BS know from experience that when "the industry" is pleased, that means they are getting exactly what they want.