Senator won’t support legislation on ‘fracking’
By Cory Hatch, Jackson Hole, Wyo.
November 30, 2009
U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, a medical doctor, said he won’t support legislation that would allow a physician or nurse access to chemical formulas used in hydraulic fracturing.
Hydraulic fracturing is a method energy companies use to get gas from geological structures by pumping fluids at high pressure into the ground and fracturing the subsurface rock.
Barrasso spokesman Gregory Keeley called the process a “safe and effective way to develop our domestic oil and gas reserves for decades.”
A bill known as the FRAC Act would, during a medical emergency, allow a physician or nurse access to chemical formulas used in hydraulic fracturing. Companies keep many of their chemical formulas secret.
“The state of Wyoming effectively regulates oil and gas exploration activities, including hydraulic fracturing,” Keeley said in an e-mail. “There is a comprehensive legal and regulatory framework in place to ensure the safety of oil and gas operations, as well as to protect our nation’s drinking water. Senator Barrasso believes the FRAC bill will simply add another layer of federal bureaucracy, increasing the hurdles for responsible development of America’s natural resources.”
Teton County commissioners unanimously approved a resolution in early November expressing concern about the lack of information on the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing in Sublette County.
Workers injured in Sublette County energy fields are being treated at St. John’s Medical Center here.
In a highly publicized incident in Colorado in 2008, a nurse suffered severe symptoms after treating an energy worker doused in hydraulic fracturing chemicals.
A representatives for the Independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States has called the incident overblown.
U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi and U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis have indicated they would be unlikely to support the bill.
