"EPA Should Require Disclosure of Fracking Chemicals, Groups Say"

"The Environmental Protection Agency should order companies such as Schlumberger Ltd. and Halliburton Co. to disclose the hydraulic fracturing chemicals used in U.S. oil and gas drilling, advocacy groups said.

Earthjustice, an environmental law firm, will ask the EPA to issue such a rule in a petition filed with the agency today on behalf of 114 national and state groups, Megan Klein, a lawyer for the Oakland, California-based firm, said in an interview. The groups want the manufacturers of fluids used in the drilling process, called fracking, to also conduct toxicity tests on the chemicals, Klein said.

The EPA is studying the effects of fracking on drinking water amid questions about the safety of the technique, in which millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals are forced into rock to free trapped gas and oil. Results of the U.S. study aren't expected until 2014, according to the agency. New York state may lift a ban on fracking later this year."

Kim Chipman reports for Bloomberg August 4, 2011.

SEE ALSO:

"Gas 'Fracking' Foes Weigh Toxics Lawsuit If EPA Petition Fails" (E2 Wire)

Earthjustice press release via Yubanet

"Groups Petition EPA for Federal Fracking Rules" (Casper Star-Tribune)