Frackers on federal land will have to disclose chemicals, but not if they are trade secrets

Companies using hydraulic fracturing to drill for oil and gas on federal land will be required to publicly announce all chemicals used in their drilling methods, according to a proposed new rule announced Thursday by the Department of the Interior.

Workers at a hydraulic fracturing operation
in Rifle, Colo. (Photo: Brennan Linsley, AP)

The rules disappoint environmentalists who note that companies are only required to submit a list of chemicals after a well has already been fractured and can withhold them if they are considered trade secrets, report Neela Banerjee and Wes Venteicher of the Los Angeles Times. Plus, the proposed rules also don't "call for baseline monitoring of nearby air or water before fracking and after."

Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, told the Times, "These rules protect industry, not people. They are riddled with gaping holes that endanger clean, safe drinking water supplies for millions of Americans," reports the Times. But Kathleen Sgamma of the Western Energy Alliance said, "States have been successfully regulating fracking for decades, including on federal lands, with no incident of contamination that would necessitate redundant federal regulation." (Read more)