Coming Clean
Washington PA Observer Reporter
16 November 2010
By Marc Levy, Associated Press
HARRISBURG - Petroleum services giant Halliburton Co. said Monday that
it has begun publicly disclosing the identity of chemicals in solutions
it makes to be pumped into the ground by Pennsylvania's booming natural
gas industry.
A new Halliburton website ( http://www.halliburton.com/hydraulicfracturing
) provides information on the chemicals the company says are in its
three most commonly used solutions in the state, where drilling crews
are rushing to exploit the Marcellus Shale, the biggest known deposit
of natural gas in the nation.
Range Resources uses Halliburton and other companies for well services,
but Range began disclosing what is in its fracking fluid months ago.
Halliburton does not say how much of each chemical has been pumped into
the ground or identify the wells where they are used, nor does it
reveal the exact concentration of each chemical in an overall solution.
In general, water makes up the lion's share. Sand comprises about 6
percent, while chemical cocktails amount to less than 2 percent.
Many of the chemicals, including hydrochloric acid, methanol and acetic
acid, are toxic in high enough doses, and appear in everyday household
and industrial solvents, cleaners and adhesives.
"We think it's a great first step," Halliburton spokeswoman Teresa Wong
said.
Last week, the federal Environmental Protection Agency issued a
subpoena to Halliburton, seeking a description of the chemical
components used in its hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, solutions
that are used to break up the shale and release the natural gas
deposits. The EPA said Halliburton refused to voluntarily disclose the
chemicals, while eight other major energy companies complied.
Halliburton responded that it has worked to supply the EPA with the
information it wants.
Wong said Monday that the new website about fracking chemicals in
Pennsylvania was not intended to satisfy the EPA's request for
information.
The Houston-based company plans similar disclosures for other states
where the company's chemicals are being used in the drilling practice,
Wong said. She did not identify the other states and could not
immediately say whether other drilling solutions the company produces
include chemicals not listed on the website.
State and federal regulators are increasingly seeking disclosure of the
chemicals, particularly in the northeastern United States where the use
of fracking - in which millions of gallons of water, sand and toxic
chemicals are injected into each well at high pressure to break apart
the shale and release trapped gas - is raising pollution concerns.
While the industry maintains that fracking has proven to be safe over
the decades, homeowners are coming forward with tales of drinking-water
wells producing brown, foul-smelling water or water polluted with
methane and chemicals.
Terry Greenwood of West Pike Run Township, Washington County, claims
chemicals leaked into a field and washed into his cattle's water supply
when drill bits were changed during the drilling process. Dominion Gas
drilled a natural gas well on his property two years ago.
While Greenwood was pleased to hear Halliburton was willing to disclose
its chemical formula, he doubted it would satisfy those who have had to
deal with the results of nearby gas drilling.
"(The companies) are going to be saying what they've been saying, 'It's
not going to cause problems,'" he said. "I didn't have problems for 18
years and then, within two months, our water's gone, the spring's gone
and cattle are dying."
Drilling-services companies have largely sought to protect their
chemical formulas, calling them proprietary.
Pennsylvania state regulations that could be finalized later this year
would require disclosure.
The Marcellus Shale lies largely beneath Pennsylvania, New York, West
Virginia and Ohio. But Pennsylvania is the center of activity, with
more than 2,000 wells drilled in the past three years and many
thousands more planned, as multinational exploration companies invest
billions in the pursuit.
Combining a new process of horizontal drilling with fracking, drillers
are mining vast deposits of gas in shale and other impermeable
formations around the United States - a boom that could ensure cheap
and plentiful natural gas for many years to come for homeowners,
factories and power plants.
Hydraulic fracturing was first used commercially in 1949 by
Halliburton.
While states can regulate drilling, a provision in the 2005 federal
energy law passed by Congress prevents the EPA from regulating
fracking. The exemption is commonly called the "Halliburton loophole,"
a reference to the company's pioneering role in fracking and the
high-profile role of former Vice President Dick Cheney, a one-time
Halliburton CEO, in convening an energy task force that had urged the
exemption.
A year ago, Congress ordered the EPA to study potential human health
and water quality threats from fracking. Initial results are expected
in 2012.
Staff writer Christie Campbell contributed to this article.