BAKKEN BREAKOUT WEEKLY


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Thursday, April 5, 2012 ■ Page 21 Environmentalists sue over fracking fl uid CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Envi-


ronmentalists are suing the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commis- sion, saying the regulatory agency hasn’t done enough to justify honoring re- quests by companies to keep the public from reviewing ingredients in hydraulic fracturing fl uids. The groups Powder River Basin Re-


source Council, Wyoming Outdoor Council, Earthworks and OMB Watch sued in Natrona County District Court on March26. They allege the commis- sion denied their state open records requests to review fracking fl uid ingre- dients. Hydraulic fracturing involves pump-


ing water, sand and chemicals into oil and gas wells to crack open fi ssures. Wyoming has required oilfi eld service companies to disclose to state offi cials the ingredients in their fracking fl uids since 2010. Environmentalists have raised alarm


for years that fracking could contami- nate groundwater. Few if any such cases are confi rmed although last year the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency


“The law requires that a company provide detailed support for its claim. Unfortunately, the commission has approved almost every trade secret request it has received regardless of how unsupported or overly broad these trade secret requests are.”


– Attorney for environmentalists Laura Beaton


theorized that fracking may have con- taminated the groundwater near Pavil- lion, a small community in central Fre- mont County. Testing groundwater for fracking-


Serving North Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Kansas, Colorado, Utah in the Oil, Gas and Mining Industries.


related pollution gets complicated be- cause what goes into fracking fl uids isn’t generally known outside the companies that make it. Wyoming’s open records law pro-


vides an exception for public disclosure of trade secrets. The groups say the com- mission has repeatedly allowed com- panies to invoke the exception — on fl imsy grounds — to keep fracking fl uid ingredients out of the public realm. “The law requires that a company


provide detailed support for its claim. Unfortunately, the commission has ap- proved almost every trade secret request it has received regardless of how unsup- ported or overly broad these trade secret requests are,” said Laura Beaton, an at- torney with Earthjustice, which is work- ing with the groups. The commission didn’t provide “fac- tual support” for withholding as trade secrets information from Baker Hughes; CESI Chemical; Champion Technolo- gies; Core Laboratories; Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.; NALCO Compa- ny; SNF, Inc.; and Weatherford Interna- tional, according to the complaint.


The commission approved 50 of 52 applications for trade secret confi denti- ality in 2010 and 2011, according to the groups. State Oil and Gas Supervisor Tom Doll said the commission has been ad- hering to its regulation and the state open records law. He pointed out that companies must


also track fracking fl uids after they’ve been used and account for their reuse, storage or disposal. Wyoming led the nation in its frack- ing disclosure regulations and other states are following suit, Gov. Matt Mead said in a statement. “Wyoming and the additional states


requiring disclosure believe it is the states rather than the federal govern- ment that should regulate hydraulic fracturing,” said Mead, who as governor is chairman of the commission. “We will watch this case closely to


determine if either the rules or the ad- ministration of the rules need work. If improvements need to be made we will make them.”


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