SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Group Petitions EPA for Fracking Toxicity Data
Environmentalists call for public reporting of chemicals in oil, gas extraction
Oct 25, 2012
On Wednesday, a coalition of 17 environmental groups petitioned the EPA demanding that the oil and gas extracting companies--particularly those that participate in fracking--be held to the same standards as other sectors of the industry.
The statement called for extracting companies to report emissions to the Toxic Release Inventory, declaring that they've "long used and released large amounts of TRI-listed toxic chemicals," the amount of which has "dramatically increased in the last decade with the rapid spread of horizontal hydraulic fracturing (or "fracking")."
Eric Schaeffer, Director of Environmental Integrity Project which is spearheading this action, writes "the Toxics Release Inventory brings daylight to dark corners, by requiring companies to quantify and report their pollution to a public data base for everyone to see." The press release (pdf) continues:
The U.S. EPA has estimated that the industry emits 127,000 tons of hazardous air pollutants every year, including benzene, xylenes, and hydrogen sulfide--more than any other TRI industry except electric utilities. And EPA investigations of natural gas development in Pavillion, Wyoming, and Dimock, Pennsylvania, found toxic chemicals and methane present in groundwater and drinking water wells.
The EIP hopes to make finally public information that has yet to be available to citizens, communities and lawmakers. Despite the many indications of the toxicity of the chemicals used in shale oil and gas removal, the extraction industry is one of the few within the energy sector that does not report to the TRI.
Writing for ProPublica, Cora Currier says that extraction companies have heretofore hid behind a '"trade secrets" provision under which companies can claim that a proprietary chemical doesn't have to be disclosed to regulators or the public."
The press release continues:
The oil and gas extraction industry is also uniquely exempt from many key provisions of our major environmental laws, including the Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
"For those of us who fear our health is being affected by this industry, disclosure of the chemicals and constituents used during development is extremely important," said Wyoming resident and Powder River Basin Resource Council organizer Deb Thomas. "We need to know what we're being exposed to so that physicians can diagnose and treat our health problems and we can make informed decisions about staying in the communities we live in. It is a human right to know what toxic materials are being stored and used where we live and work."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
On Wednesday, a coalition of 17 environmental groups petitioned the EPA demanding that the oil and gas extracting companies--particularly those that participate in fracking--be held to the same standards as other sectors of the industry.
The statement called for extracting companies to report emissions to the Toxic Release Inventory, declaring that they've "long used and released large amounts of TRI-listed toxic chemicals," the amount of which has "dramatically increased in the last decade with the rapid spread of horizontal hydraulic fracturing (or "fracking")."
Eric Schaeffer, Director of Environmental Integrity Project which is spearheading this action, writes "the Toxics Release Inventory brings daylight to dark corners, by requiring companies to quantify and report their pollution to a public data base for everyone to see." The press release (pdf) continues:
The U.S. EPA has estimated that the industry emits 127,000 tons of hazardous air pollutants every year, including benzene, xylenes, and hydrogen sulfide--more than any other TRI industry except electric utilities. And EPA investigations of natural gas development in Pavillion, Wyoming, and Dimock, Pennsylvania, found toxic chemicals and methane present in groundwater and drinking water wells.
The EIP hopes to make finally public information that has yet to be available to citizens, communities and lawmakers. Despite the many indications of the toxicity of the chemicals used in shale oil and gas removal, the extraction industry is one of the few within the energy sector that does not report to the TRI.
Writing for ProPublica, Cora Currier says that extraction companies have heretofore hid behind a '"trade secrets" provision under which companies can claim that a proprietary chemical doesn't have to be disclosed to regulators or the public."
The press release continues:
The oil and gas extraction industry is also uniquely exempt from many key provisions of our major environmental laws, including the Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
"For those of us who fear our health is being affected by this industry, disclosure of the chemicals and constituents used during development is extremely important," said Wyoming resident and Powder River Basin Resource Council organizer Deb Thomas. "We need to know what we're being exposed to so that physicians can diagnose and treat our health problems and we can make informed decisions about staying in the communities we live in. It is a human right to know what toxic materials are being stored and used where we live and work."
On Wednesday, a coalition of 17 environmental groups petitioned the EPA demanding that the oil and gas extracting companies--particularly those that participate in fracking--be held to the same standards as other sectors of the industry.
The statement called for extracting companies to report emissions to the Toxic Release Inventory, declaring that they've "long used and released large amounts of TRI-listed toxic chemicals," the amount of which has "dramatically increased in the last decade with the rapid spread of horizontal hydraulic fracturing (or "fracking")."
Eric Schaeffer, Director of Environmental Integrity Project which is spearheading this action, writes "the Toxics Release Inventory brings daylight to dark corners, by requiring companies to quantify and report their pollution to a public data base for everyone to see." The press release (pdf) continues:
The U.S. EPA has estimated that the industry emits 127,000 tons of hazardous air pollutants every year, including benzene, xylenes, and hydrogen sulfide--more than any other TRI industry except electric utilities. And EPA investigations of natural gas development in Pavillion, Wyoming, and Dimock, Pennsylvania, found toxic chemicals and methane present in groundwater and drinking water wells.
The EIP hopes to make finally public information that has yet to be available to citizens, communities and lawmakers. Despite the many indications of the toxicity of the chemicals used in shale oil and gas removal, the extraction industry is one of the few within the energy sector that does not report to the TRI.
Writing for ProPublica, Cora Currier says that extraction companies have heretofore hid behind a '"trade secrets" provision under which companies can claim that a proprietary chemical doesn't have to be disclosed to regulators or the public."
The press release continues:
The oil and gas extraction industry is also uniquely exempt from many key provisions of our major environmental laws, including the Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
"For those of us who fear our health is being affected by this industry, disclosure of the chemicals and constituents used during development is extremely important," said Wyoming resident and Powder River Basin Resource Council organizer Deb Thomas. "We need to know what we're being exposed to so that physicians can diagnose and treat our health problems and we can make informed decisions about staying in the communities we live in. It is a human right to know what toxic materials are being stored and used where we live and work."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.
To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good.
News & Opinion
Trending
Common Dreams, Inc. Founded 1997. Registered 501(c3) Non-Profit
Privacy Policy