Major supplier to oil and gas industry to disclose 100 percent of its chemicals used in fracking

Photo by Todd Spoth, Houston Chronicle

Houston-based Baker Hughes, a major supplier to the oil and gas industry, said "it will begin disclosing 100 percent of the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing fluid, with no exemptions for trade secrets," Kevin Begos and Matthew Daly report for The Associated Press. The company says it "believes it's possible to disclose 100 percent 'of the chemical ingredients we use in hydraulic fracturing fluids without compromising our formulations,' to increase public trust."

Many companies already voluntarily disclose the contents of their fracking fluids through FracFocus.org, "but critics say the website has loose reporting standards and allows companies to avoid disclosure by declaring certain chemicals as trade secrets." In March, a U.S. Department of Energy task force said 84 percent of wells registered on the site invoked a trade secret exemption for at least one chemical.

Melanie Kania, a spokesperson for Baker Hughes, told AP that it will take several months for the new policy to take effect, and the end result will be a single list that "that provides 'all the chemical constituents' for frack fluids, with no trade secrets." (Read more)