Shareholders push for fracking disclosure

Shareholders are the latest group pushing for oil and gas companies to disclose plans for dealing with possible pollution from hydraulic fracturing. "The resolutions announced Friday, filed with companies such as Chevron and Exxon Mobil, take aim at an increasingly common industry practice that has been blamed for tainting water supplies and land with chemicals," Darryl Fears of The Washington Post reports. "The shareholder groups include the New York state pension fund, Domini Social Investments, Trillium Asset Management and The Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia."

"The resolutions called on the companies to recycle waste water, disclose the type of chemicals used in the operations and lessen their toxicity," Fears writes. Andrew Logan, director of the oil and gas program for Ceres, a coalition of investors and environmental groups that work with companies to improve their business practices, explained, "This is really about enhancing the long term-value of these companies." He added, "They want to see these companies succeed. The industry's ability to continue to develop shale gas reserves depend on the public's acceptance of fracking that it's safe." (Read more)