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Opinion
So, if Craig Meis is right and “99.5 percent of it is basically water and sand”, what's the problem in providing a list of the ingredients in the fluids used in hydraulic fracturing? That practice, injecting fluids into underground rock and tight sand formations, is common out in the gas patch that includes our watersheds, private wells and a lot of territory where the experiences of local landowners cause them to question just what's being pushed downhole to release needed natural gas.
I'm certain no one's surprised that Commissioner Meis authored the resolution our Board of County Commissioners passed Monday opposing the Fracing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals (FRAC) Act of 2009 introduced by two members of Colorado's congressional delegation, Diana DeGette and Jared Polis. The brief bill would simply remove an exemption from provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act for the practice, a recent exemption contained in the Energy Policy Act of 2005. It would require disclosure of chemicals, but not proprietary formulas, to states or to the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency in instances where states have not assumed this regulatory responsibility.
Similar legislation is being pushed in the Senate by Senators Robert Casey of Pennsylvania and Charles Shumer of New York, two states where hydraulic fracturing is newly being used to release natural gas from shale formations. That's also why Congressman Maurice Hinchey from New York cosponsored the House bill.
“I'll guarantee you I can go into anybody's household and find more dry chemicals than on any well pad,” Meis is quoted as saying.
That's fine, Craig. Come to my house and do an inventory. My only caveat is that you also provide an inventory of every chemical on a well site of my choosing. Also recognize that I had a choice as to which chemicals I brought home and the ability to read on every package just what was contained inside. It's that lack of choice for surface owners and water users being kept in the dark as to just what might be bubbling underneath the ground in our watersheds and elsewhere that is at issue.
Proprietary formulas are specifically exempted in the proposed bills but local Halliburton manager Larry Kent still trotted out the “competitive advantage” argument Monday. Meis provided an opening for counterarguments by mentioning Kentucky Fried Chicken and presumably its seasoning formula. Other industry apologists have cited the highly protected formula for Coca Cola as an example.
Let's see anyone in the industry or any of their contractors such as Meis take the list of ingredients available for any KFC product and duplicate the taste of any meal down at KFC's 11th and North Avenue location.
As I write this column, I'm sipping a Diet Coke. Even knowing they're listed in descending order of content, I couldn't possibly assemble carbonated water, caramel color, aspartame, phosphoric acid, potassium benzoate, natural flavors citric acid and caffeine in any drink that would compromise Coca Cola's ability to keep its earnings high.
Shouldn't companies stuffing God knows what into the ground beneath our watersheds live by the same rules that mandate consumer knowledge of the contents of the products we eat or bring into our homes?
A couple of other arguments don't hold water (and/or whatever else is in that fluid being injected into formations underneath oil and gas fields throughout Colorado and other states.)
Contrary to assertions by industry and some local lawmakers, the new rules promulgated by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission and approved by the state legislature don't offer much protection regarding frac fluids. How safe would you feel if manufacturers of household chemicals only had to inventory ingredients used on site in quantities of more than 500 pounds per quarter? Or that disclosure only had to come after some accident and then only upon the written request of your physician and/or regulators? Who couldn't reveal the answers to you or anyone else because of strict individual confidentiality requirements in the rules? And if you knew any of that data was not considered public information?
Feeling better now?
What's curious is not Meis' advocacy for the industry or the acquiescence of his fellow commissioners. It's the absence of our Third District representative, Congressman John Salazar, this go round. John helped write virtually identical legislation last September, trumpeting his co-sponsorship in a pre-election news release, but the bill didn't make it through the process before adjournment. Now his constituents are left wondering why he's not similarly concerned about their welfare after re-election.
Former Mesa County Commissioner Jim Spehar is paid by a variety of clients to work on issues surrounding energy production in western Colorado. That's also how Craig Meis makes his living in addition to being a current county commissioner. Your comments are welcome at jimspehar@bresnan.net.
I'm certain no one's surprised that Commissioner Meis authored the resolution our Board of County Commissioners passed Monday opposing the Fracing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals (FRAC) Act of 2009 introduced by two members of Colorado's congressional delegation, Diana DeGette and Jared Polis. The brief bill would simply remove an exemption from provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act for the practice, a recent exemption contained in the Energy Policy Act of 2005. It would require disclosure of chemicals, but not proprietary formulas, to states or to the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency in instances where states have not assumed this regulatory responsibility.
Similar legislation is being pushed in the Senate by Senators Robert Casey of Pennsylvania and Charles Shumer of New York, two states where hydraulic fracturing is newly being used to release natural gas from shale formations. That's also why Congressman Maurice Hinchey from New York cosponsored the House bill.
“I'll guarantee you I can go into anybody's household and find more dry chemicals than on any well pad,” Meis is quoted as saying.
That's fine, Craig. Come to my house and do an inventory. My only caveat is that you also provide an inventory of every chemical on a well site of my choosing. Also recognize that I had a choice as to which chemicals I brought home and the ability to read on every package just what was contained inside. It's that lack of choice for surface owners and water users being kept in the dark as to just what might be bubbling underneath the ground in our watersheds and elsewhere that is at issue.
Proprietary formulas are specifically exempted in the proposed bills but local Halliburton manager Larry Kent still trotted out the “competitive advantage” argument Monday. Meis provided an opening for counterarguments by mentioning Kentucky Fried Chicken and presumably its seasoning formula. Other industry apologists have cited the highly protected formula for Coca Cola as an example.
Let's see anyone in the industry or any of their contractors such as Meis take the list of ingredients available for any KFC product and duplicate the taste of any meal down at KFC's 11th and North Avenue location.
As I write this column, I'm sipping a Diet Coke. Even knowing they're listed in descending order of content, I couldn't possibly assemble carbonated water, caramel color, aspartame, phosphoric acid, potassium benzoate, natural flavors citric acid and caffeine in any drink that would compromise Coca Cola's ability to keep its earnings high.
Shouldn't companies stuffing God knows what into the ground beneath our watersheds live by the same rules that mandate consumer knowledge of the contents of the products we eat or bring into our homes?
A couple of other arguments don't hold water (and/or whatever else is in that fluid being injected into formations underneath oil and gas fields throughout Colorado and other states.)
Contrary to assertions by industry and some local lawmakers, the new rules promulgated by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission and approved by the state legislature don't offer much protection regarding frac fluids. How safe would you feel if manufacturers of household chemicals only had to inventory ingredients used on site in quantities of more than 500 pounds per quarter? Or that disclosure only had to come after some accident and then only upon the written request of your physician and/or regulators? Who couldn't reveal the answers to you or anyone else because of strict individual confidentiality requirements in the rules? And if you knew any of that data was not considered public information?
Feeling better now?
What's curious is not Meis' advocacy for the industry or the acquiescence of his fellow commissioners. It's the absence of our Third District representative, Congressman John Salazar, this go round. John helped write virtually identical legislation last September, trumpeting his co-sponsorship in a pre-election news release, but the bill didn't make it through the process before adjournment. Now his constituents are left wondering why he's not similarly concerned about their welfare after re-election.
Former Mesa County Commissioner Jim Spehar is paid by a variety of clients to work on issues surrounding energy production in western Colorado. That's also how Craig Meis makes his living in addition to being a current county commissioner. Your comments are welcome at jimspehar@bresnan.net.
