Hydraulic Fracturing Bill Could Force Disclosure

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 — in part 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 Representative Jim Keffer, Republican of Eastland, who heads the House Committee on Energy Resources, would create a Web site containing information about the chemicals used in each well. The bill has won praise from both industry and major environmental organizations including the Sierra Club, the Texas League of Conservation Voters and the Environmental Defense Fund. Some homeowners living above shale-gas formations like the Barnett Shale in North Texas say drillers engaged in hydraulic fracturing have contaminated their water supplies. The gas industry counters that fracking takes place too far below aquifers for contamination to take place, and that chemicals compose, by volume, less than 1 percent of fracking fluids, which are mostly water and sand. But environmentalists say that fracking can pose risks depending on the depth and type of rock, and that poor construction of the gas wells can also result in leakage of the chemicals, some of which may be toxic. Mr. Keffer said that his bill was modeled on a similar rule in Arkansas, which took effect in January. Several other states are instituting fracking disclosure requirements...more