Drillers May Frack First, Disclose Later Under Draft Plan

By Katarzyna Klimasinska - Tue May 01 04:01:58 GMT 2012

Natural-gas companies drilling on U.S. land would be permitted to wait until after hydraulic fracturing is completed to disclose what chemicals they used, under a draft rule being considered by the U.S. Interior Department.

A version in February required companies to file a complete chemical makeup at least 30 days before work began, something energy trade groups, including Washington-based American Exploration and Production Council, complained about. They said it could slow energy production on federal lands.

President Barack Obama has pledged to increase U.S. natural gas production in a way that doesn’t hurt the environment. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, releases gas trapped in shale rock by injecting water, sand and chemicals thousands of feet underground. It’s used for almost every new natural-gas well drilled in the U.S.

Requiring disclosure of chemicals “would only be required after the fracturing operation has taken place,” according to the draft, obtained by Bloomberg News.

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-01/drillers-may-frack-first-disclose-later-under-draft-plan.html