From The Patriot-News:Range Resources, of Cannonsburg, Pa., was the first company to drill a Marcellus Shale gas well in Pennsylvania. Wednesday it became the first to disclose the chemicals used in the fracking process at each of its wells. It’s a public relations move of monumental proportion. The identification of the chemicals -- added to millions of gallons of...
View full sizeRange Resources Chairman John Pinkerton (left) and Vice President of Operations Stephen Rupert talk about extracting natural gas from Marcellus shale at their offices in Canonsburg, Pa., Oct. 29, 2008. A piece of Marcellus shale sits on the table in the foreground.From The Patriot-News:
Range Resources, of Cannonsburg, Pa., was the first company to drill a Marcellus Shale gas well in Pennsylvania. Wednesday it became the first to disclose the chemicals used in the fracking process at each of its wells.
It’s a public relations move of monumental proportion.
The identification of the chemicals -- added to millions of gallons of "frack water" pumped into deep wells to fracture shale and release natural gas -- has become a rallying cry of many who have seen the documentary film "Gasland."
That film -- which premiered on HBO last month -- questions the safety of the fracking process and suggests there are over 500 different drilling chemicals that might pollute drinking water.
While any single well might use only a handful of the 500 chemicals, and even though the chemicals are pumped more than a mile below the water table, the industry assurances of safety have been countered -- with effectiveness -- by the film's claim that the industry keeps the identity of the chemicals secret.
» Read the full story: Marcellus drilling company to identify fracking chemicals
More news on hydrofracking and the Marcellus Shale
» Marcellus driller volunteers to disclose fracking chemicals [Philadelphia Inquirer]
» Delaware agency to reconsider natural gas drilling stoppage [The Associated Press]
» Butler, Pa., residents show opposition to Marcellus Shale drilling [Standard Speaker]
» Investigation of Pa. fracking accident cites untrained personnel [News Inferno]