Pending Federal Rules for Fracking on Public Land

A new set of federal rules regarding fracking on public lands are due to be released in the next few weeks. The rules are expected by some to serve as a model states can use to require disclosure of hydro-fracture drilling brine, though exemptions still stand for trade secrets. Not sure how to take that since true  disclosure and supporting trade secret are wholly opposite concepts.
If you would like to read more, this link, Fracking Rules on U.S. Lands Seen by Interior as State Model, goes to an article offering more details about the new federal rules.

February 2012 Ohio EPA Info

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has released a few new documents about Fracking this month.

Tonight, rather than stick my opinion along with the links, I'm just going to provide the links. Feel free to leave a comment at the end of this article or in the forum if you would like to add your opinion and thoughts about any of these new documents.

Fact Sheet: Drill Cuttings from Oil and Gas Exploration in the 
Marcellus and Utica Shale Regions of Ohio

Final Air General Permit Announcement

 Air General Permit for Shale Gas Well Site Fact Sheet

Other Ohio Fracking Information (to avoid placing a long list of links here)

Fracking Cemeteries?

According to an article in the Columbus Dispatch, a Texas-based driller is seeking to frack a Lowellville/Poland, Ohio (near Youngstown) cemetery. In a way it makes sense - it's the one place toxic chemicals can't hurt the residents.

It will be interesting to hear how this develops, they're trying to decide if the township gets the mineral rights or if each plot owner's family owns the mineral rights.

College campuses, inner-city industrial parks, places where our food is grown, fresh water tributaries, cemeteries - what's next? elementary schools? nursing home patios?

I'm going to leave my personal commentary out of this one before I go too far (except for my sarcastic comment and question above), but I will provide a link to the Dispatch article so you can check it out on your own if you want to read it.

Do you think fracking a cemetery is going too far? Feel free to share your opinion by leaving a comment or visiting the forum.

Ohio, Frac, and the Environment's New Bulletin Board Forum

New today on this site, the OFE (Ohio, Frac, and the Environment) bulletin-board style forum.

Feel free to leave a comment, ask a question, or just share your thoughts by starting a new thread or joining an existing thread in the forum. (Lurkers are welcome, too, so feel free to just browse.)

The link to the forum is over at the side of the page, or you can click here to join the conversation and make your opinion heard.

New Texas Rule on Fracking Brine Disclosure

The proprietary list of  chemicals used for fracking a well are about to be revealed, beyond what environmental investigators have already discovered by poring over MSDS sheets and reading hazmat info on frac trucks.

A new rule from the Texas Railroad Commission requires public disclosure of fracking brine chemicals. Oil and gas driller using the hydraulic fracturing method will also be required to disclose the quantities of fresh-water used in each "drill".

(Colorado also recently enacted a similar rule, though, it's careful to protect the proprietary (aka secret) rights of the driller.)

Read more details about this here, or check out the FracFocus link on the side of this page.