Monday, May 09, 2011

Chesapeake Energy delays public release of chemicals used in gas well that blew out

Chesapeake Energy, a leader in drillers' voluntary disclosure of chemicals use in hydraulic fracturing, complied with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection's request for a list of chemicals used at its well that blew out last month in Bradford County, but is reluctant to publicly disclose the information, Mike Soraghan of Greenwire reports for The New York Times.

Chesapeake spokesman Jim Gipson told Soraghan the company has complied with the state's request for a list of the chemicals, but "the company doesn't plan to file a report until it is done with 'completion,' the preparation for production after drilling." It is not clear when or if completion will happen and that bothers the official in charge of the disclosure registry, Soraghan reports. "You have to treat it like one that was completed," Mike Paque, executive director of the Ground Water Protection Council, said in an interview. "The chemicals were down the hole." (Read more)

No comments: