Hickenlooper Tells Colorado Oil and Gas Association To Expect Fracking Fluid Regulations Soon

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper told oil and gas companies on Tuesday to expect heavier regulations on fracking fluid in the state by the end of the year. Speaking at the Colorado Oil and Gas Association conference, Hickenlooper said disclosing the contents of the fluid would bolster public trust in the industry, reports the Denver Post.

Fracking fluid is used to displace oil and gas from formations deep underground. Critics contend the fluid contains carcinogens which pollute groundwater. Industry officials, meanwhile, insist the practice is safe but are unwilling to divulge the components of their fluids.

Hickenlooper, a former geologist, acknowledged the need to protect trade secrets, but also made the point that, "the most valuable recipe in the world is for Coca Cola and they put it on the bottle."

Colorado passed regulations in 2008 requiring companies maintain a list of chemicals used in their drilling processes. The list must be presented to healthcare workers and state regulators if requested after a workplace incident.

Companies may voluntarily present the composition of their fluids at FracFocus, a website created with the aim of providing "the public with objective information on hydraulic fracturing, the chemicals used, the purposes they serve and the means by which the groundwater is protected." The site is sponsored by the Ground Water Protection Council and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission. Colorado's regulations may make participation on the site mandatory.

The HuffPost reported on leaked EPA documents in February which indicated high levels of radioactivity in fracking byproducts. These carcinogens then entered water supplies via sewage treatment plants ill-equipped to remove the chemicals.

WATCH a musical video on fracking and the potential for groundwater contamination:

 
 
WATCH a New York Times piece on Colorado's natural gas development:

Comments

[Rendy Bee Mulyono]

01:49 AM on 08/04/2011

Fracking companies' management's family should live in cities surrounding the site and not permitted to buy bottled water. They must drink from the tap.

[realityCheckInTheMail]

12:46 PM on 08/04/2011

Actually - that is *exactly* what happens.

A lot of oil and gas management live in Ft. Worth. Ft. Worth has been drilled out like Swiss cheese in the last 5 years. More shale gas wells inside Ft. Worth city limits than 7-elevens.

Although it's possible all these guys are drinking exclusively bottled water, I doubt it, as you don't climb the greasy pole of management by being an eccentric nut-job.

[personal beliefs]

04:54 PM on 08/04/2011

and they would be perfectly safe

[Skullbash]

04:48 PM on 08/03/2011

I can hear the big O&G lobbyists jumping into their cars and on their private jets heading here to do damage control.

You see, a O&G lobbyist does not care if our groundwater is polluted until the end of time. They just do their masters' bidding for the highest $$ they can extract from them.

[personal beliefs]

04:55 PM on 08/04/2011

provide factual links that fracing has polluted water aquifers.

[Skullbash]

05:09 PM on 08/04/2011

So how are the benefits at Halliburton? Good pension plan & full health?

[realityCheckInTheMail]

03:11 PM on 08/03/2011

Hickenloper is a Democrat, a former brewmaster, and the exact opposite of a corporate stooge.

And he completely supports shale gas drilling.

Make no mistake fractivists, Hickenloper is not on your side. He has been quoted as saying "we should let them drill all they want, and when the make a spill, just hit them with a big fine".

That's exactly the right approach. Go Hick Go!

[realityCheckInTheMail]

03:25 PM on 08/03/2011

Actually, here is the exact Hickenloper quote.

He wants to “drill the living daylights out of natural gas and cut regulations.”.

And this is a liberal Democrat! Awesome! With enemies like these, who needs friends?

http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/politics/The-Politician.html

[jokinok1]

11:26 AM on 08/03/2011

Would someone show me a documented instance where fracking fluid entered a municipal water treatment plant?

[Skullbash]

04:50 PM on 08/03/2011

Many Coloradans rely on well water to drink, for livestock and irrigation.

Go look out your front window and count cars or something idiot.

[realityCheckInTheMail]

07:33 PM on 08/03/2011

And those groundwater wells get containimated all the time, with or without drilling.

Don't pretend that groundwater wells are a robust and reliable way to provide people with water. I grew up in an area where everyone had groundwater wells, and lots of people had problems. And there was no drilling. Runoff, septic systems, natural geology changes, all mess up 100X more wells than drilling.

[realityCheckInTheMail]

03:13 PM on 08/07/2011

" I think you have responded enough so that everyone on this thread can see where you are coming from if you want to admit it or not. "

I am very clear where I am coming from. I want to see an instance of where a natural gas frac job has contaminated a municipal water supply.

Exact same question that jokinok1 posted when he started the thread, before you hijacked it,

It seems pretty clear that no such example exists. This is obvious now, after your meanderings and ramblings and distractions from this simple question, then it was before the thread started.

[Oginikwe]

02:34 AM on 08/04/2011

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/27/us/27gas.html?_r=2&src=me&ref=homepage

[personal beliefs]

04:57 PM on 08/04/2011

and that is the oil company's fault how? Looks like the EPA told them to do it.

[realityCheckInTheMail]

07:50 PM on 08/07/2011

That's an example of wastewater that *might* damage a municipal water supply. Such examples can be found for lots of other industries besides shale gas.

How about an example where it *did* damage a municipal water supply, even just a little.

[chompchomp]

10:56 AM on 08/03/2011

Fracking fluid is so corrosive and toxic that I'm not sure it should be used whatsoever. And is this yet-unseen legislation going to have teeth? Or will it be along the lines of "...a maximum of, on average, one of two household water spouts, faucets, and spigots, will be permitted to emit gigantic flames when used."

[intolleft]

01:17 PM on 08/03/2011

Where did you hear that? Fracking fluid is composed of 99% sand and water. The bulk of the remaining "chemicals" is and emulsifier called guar gum. It's used in ice cream.

[chompchomp]

08:39 PM on 08/05/2011

Then go ahead and let me watch you drink a glass of it.

[personal beliefs]

04:58 PM on 08/04/2011

Ignorant comment.

[chompchomp]

08:39 PM on 08/05/2011

Yes, your comment is indeed ignorant.

[dengal]

10:03 AM on 08/03/2011

with the water issues the west already faces, why is fracking being allowed at all?

[marind]

10:17 AM on 08/03/2011

Here here.

[Winston Grant]

11:51 AM on 08/03/2011

See the recent "DEAL" for further details--this got tacked on as the PRICE for not CRASHING our government.
Not such a "compromise' AFTER all, huh? No default=NO MORE CLEAN WATER TABLES.
GREAT.

[sillygames]

09:57 AM on 08/03/2011

Fracking is not safe. Frackers are allowed to use banned chemicals and mix them together. Mistakes and accidents happen. Dick Cheney got this pushed through, NO Regulation on Fracking. Halliburton is the #1 fracker in the US.

Ground water in Flower Mound, TX is so polluted and then they built brand new houses on the polluted land.

[personal beliefs]

11:54 AM on 08/03/2011

provide factual links to prove your claim that groundwater supplies have been tainted with fracing fluid.

[intolleft]

01:21 PM on 08/03/2011

Fracking has been used in 1 million applications over 60 years with not a single case of ground water contamination.

Please get informed, you're embarrassing yourself.

[Arashi]

09:44 AM on 08/03/2011

Anybody notice the similarity between the words "fracking" and "fragging"?
It might be just coincidental, but somehow I just don't think so.

[intolleft]

01:26 PM on 08/03/2011

Only the imagined one.

[Malcolm Hensley]

04:11 PM on 08/03/2011

Sorry, no offense, but someone using the handle Arashi should not be pointing out the similarity of words.

Just an observation.

[bcinu2]

09:39 AM on 08/03/2011

There are other energy alternatives that could be put into play. Until "We the People" demand change and get after the Political System, we are destined to continue to harm our planet....bc

[Malcolm Hensley]

04:12 PM on 08/03/2011

suggestions of other energy alternatives that are free of problems?? As one of the people I'd like to know.

[futbol4fun]

09:32 AM on 08/03/2011

Why I start off every morning with a nice cold cup of Benzene.

[intolleft]

01:31 PM on 08/03/2011

Benzine does not appear on the ingredients list already available online. From the PA Dept of Environmental Protection website:

http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/minres/oilgas/FractListing.pdf

[Malcolm Hensley]

04:13 PM on 08/03/2011

are you trying to confuse futbol4fun world view with facts?

[terramartom]

09:18 AM on 08/03/2011

Again at the heart of every single issue regarding safety is republican greed. They say it is safe, but won't tell what it is?
That is because it is not safe and never will be, and they can only plan on buying more corrupt greedy politicians to do their bidding to poison our Nation to make money.
Republicans love to make money even if it kills people!

[intolleft]

01:33 PM on 08/03/2011

"It" is comprised of 98% water and sand. The remaining ingredients pose a very low to extremely low risk to humans, animals and the environment.

[floridan56]

08:46 AM on 08/03/2011

Along with the whole tar sands fiasco, the concept of fracking for gas seems akin to a crack addict scraping and smoking pipe residue in a closed room where 'his' hungry family gasps for air and begs for a sip of water. All that's left is 'bong' water. We are the addict. The world is our family.... and yet we only hear the 'begging for more'.

[marind]

10:22 AM on 08/03/2011

Great analogy. Interesting that "frack" and "crack" have so much in common.

[chompchomp]

11:13 AM on 08/03/2011

F/F'd. The reason is because the easy to get "nugs" (i.e. light sweet crude and other liquid forms of oil) are all basically used up; it's too expensive to get to them. But like you say, we're hooked and we need it, so we're going after the crappy stuff. Ever notice how almost all oil exploration is now in very, very deep water? Very high costs and very high risks, as Deepwater Horizon has proven. Peak oil is real, and the consequences of being so addicted to this stuff are also very real.

[floridan56]

08:31 AM on 08/03/2011

I like the mention of how water treatment plants cannot remove these chemicals without mention that it passes through people first.
'fracking fluid' is a 'potable' way of describing 'caustic chemical cocktail injections of varied ingredients.'. This method should be outlawed before it was ever allowed.
Ironic too, how much water this method requires that, in turn, poisons water sources that have never seen the light of day.
Like chemotherapy on a healthy body, to relieve symptoms of an overgrown (oil &gas dependency) hairdo.. always for profit. Let's trim our usage, invest in renewable rescources and truly clean energy, and stop killing our host.

[g9]

01:51 AM on 08/03/2011

the list of ingrediants was posted in Pennsylvania....
their list was made to look like things we use every day...
a comment was made that so little of the hamful materals are used ( compared to the millions of gal. of water....) any of the company's board members want a drink?.

[KarlaElisa]

02:29 AM on 08/03/2011

perfect. i think we should MAKE them drink it. same goes for the makers and sprayer of Corexit.

[Winston Grant]

11:54 AM on 08/03/2011

Are you kidding? they only serve water from ANOTHER part of the WORLD at those meetings.
they're not crazy enough to drink the domestic stuff--they KNOW WHAT'S IN IT.

[intolleft]

01:34 PM on 08/03/2011

What's in it?

[rockymtngma]

09:58 PM on 08/02/2011

Gov. Hickenlooper is the one who can hold the oil companies' toes to the fire -- since he knows them well. Thanks for looking after us Coloradans, Governor! Keep them responsible!

[arnlws67]

10:06 PM on 08/02/2011

Agreed. Thank God in this bastion of Republican complicity to any and all corporate insidiousness, we still have a Democratic Governor. For whom I voted. And for whom I will vote again.

[g9]

01:44 AM on 08/03/2011

look at ....alec.org.....

[D-Driller]

02:24 AM on 08/03/2011

Texas did this first - a true bastion of Republican complicity to any and all corporate insidiousness... Dem Hickenlooper was second, but then Dems don't tend to have many original ideas...

[realityCheckInTheMail]

03:57 PM on 08/03/2011

ahhh really!?

Hickenloop­er wants to “drill the living daylights out of natural gas and cut regulation­s.”.

http://www­.outsideon­line.com/o­utdoor-adv­enture/pol­itics/The-­Politician­.html

You don't know hick.

[rockymtngma]

04:55 PM on 08/03/2011

"What we should do is make it easier to drill but hold them more accountable. If they spill fracking fluid into a pond or a waterway, we should double the fine." -- from the article you provided the URL for.

That sounds a lot like what he said about testing water, monitoring and finding out what's in the fracking fluid: we have to hold oil companies accountable. It's reasonable to allow some drilling for oil and gas, but not reasonable to allow oil companies to pollute water supplies or destroy the local environment to do so.