Environmental Groups Seek Fracking Fluids Disclosure
WASHINGTON -- The Environmental Integrity Project will be joined by 16 other organizations today in submitting a petition to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency asking the agency to include the oil and gas extraction industry --including hydraulic fracturing-- in its Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reporting requirements.
The petition is scheduled to be filed this afternoon, according to an announcement from the Environmental Integrity Project.
Toxics Release Inventory reporting is already required of most other energy industries including coal. The groups will argue that the loophole for the oil and gas extraction industries makes no sense, given the huge amounts of toxic chemicals involved that have only increased with the rapid rise of fracking. Since oil and gas facilities are not required to report such data, the full scope of environmental and public health risks to citizens and communities is not known, they argue. Toxics-related risks include air pollution, drinking water contamination, and discharges to rivers and streams, leaders say.
The TRI is an EPA-maintained database which contains information on the disposal and other releases of over 650 toxic chemicals from thousands of facilities nationwide. One of the primary purposes of TRI data is to inform citizens, communities, and lawmakers of potentially hazardous or toxic releases of chemicals in their area.
The Environmental Integrity Project describes itself as a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization established in 2002 by former EPA enforcement attorneys to advocate for effective enforcement of environmental laws.
SOURCE: Environmental Integrity Project.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.