Interior mulls policy on disclosure of gas 'fracking' fluids

The Interior Department may compel natural-gas drillers to disclose the chemicals they're using for a controversial drilling method known as hydraulic fracturing.

"Within the Department of the Interior ... we will be considering issuing a policy that will deal with the issue of disclosure requirements with respect to the fluids used in hydraulic fracturing," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Tuesday at a forum on natural-gas development.

The drilling method — dubbed "fracking" — employs high-pressure injections of chemicals, water and sand to break apart rock formations and enable trapped gas beneath the surface to flow.

Interior regulates energy development on public lands.

Fracking is enabling a boom in U.S. gas development but also raising fears of groundwater contamination. 

The industry says that fears of groundwater contamination are badly overblown, arguing that fracking techniques have a proven record of safely isolating chemicals from water supplies.

Salazar and White House energy czar Carol Browner lauded the benefits of natural gas as an abundant domestic energy source that's lower in carbon content than other fossil fuels. But they also said it must be developed with an eye toward environmental protection.

"What today is about is trying to set aside those differences and try and find common ground," Browner said at the Interior Department event with oil-and-gas industry officials and environmentalists.

President Obama has called natural-gas development an area ripe for bipartisan cooperation. But new requirements on drillers could set up a clash with the industry and its Capitol Hill allies, as reported in this morning's Energy Roundup.