Fracking News
Montana Fracking Rules to be Published Thursday; Landowners Concerned
Rancher and mineral-rights holder: "These rules fall short of fully revealing the chemicals used in fracking."By New West Editor, 5-25-11
 |
|
 | |
|
Fracking rules to be published Thursday; landowners concerned
The Montana Board of Oil & Gas Conservation (BOGC) will release rules Thursday on disclosing potentially toxic chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a process used in deep-well oil and gas drilling.
Landowners in Sweet Grass County, who are facing gas development and have mineral rights leased beneath their land, are concerned about the draft rules that will be made public for the first time in Montana. In neighboring Wyoming, where similar disclosure rules were enacted in 2010, water contamination cases are being investigated in the towns of Pavillion and Clark. The EPA has found chemicals used in fracking in Pavillion water wells. In Clark, natural gas and trace amounts of benzene, another chemical, have been found in water wells.
“As a rancher who has leased the minerals, I expect to know what chemicals are being pumped into the ground so that I can protect my water resources from possible contamination,” said Paul Hawks, a Melville-area rancher and member of Northern Plains Resource Council. “These rules fall short of fully revealing the chemicals used in fracking and leave the public still guessing about toxic chemicals that could affect their health, livestock, water and land. They also do not notice landowners living near proposed wells so that they have the opportunity to test their baseline water quality prior to fracking. I hope the BOGC listens to the public and strengthen these rules.”
The draft rules exempt public notice of any chemicals deemed trade secrets by the oil and gas industry. The rules also don’t provide easy public access to any other fracking chemicals used. Under the draft rules, nothing will be published on the BOGC website. Paper records of the chemicals specific to each oil and gas well will be kept at the BOGC office in Billings.
The draft rules are available now on the BOGC website.
Like this story? Get more! Sign up for our free newsletters.
Comments
This Fracking method in my opinion is determental to the environment, water, soil and not to mention the not-so-legit companies that have been caught dumping fluids into streams, rivers, lakes and the ever famous opening of the valves on the trucks and driving down the roads to dump.