Groups Seek Disclosure Of Fracking Chemicals

Environmental groups filed a lawsuit last week that seeks to force EPA to require oil and gas companies to disclose information about the chemicals released by hydraulic fracturing, natural gas processing, and related operations. The groups want the oil and gas industry to report chemical releases to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), a public federal database that tracks releases of more than 650 hazardous substances. The new suit by the Environmental Integrity Project and eight other advocacy organizations follows a petition the groups filed in October 2012 that asked EPA to add this industry to TRI reporting. “Due to EPA’s long inaction, the oil and gas extraction industry remains exempt from the TRI, one of our nation’s most basic toxic reporting mechanisms,” says Adam Kron, an attorney for the Environmental Integrity Project. He notes that most other industries—including chemical manufacturers—have had to comply with these right-to-know rules for more than 20 years. EPA never responded to the groups’ 2012 petition, prompting them to file the suit in federal trial court.