2/27/2012
Jane Lynn, a resident of Arlington in Texas, is worried about what is in the air that she is breathing the moment she steps out her front door. This is due to the presence of a natural gas drill site operating a mere 1500 feet away from her home.
Lynn said, “I think if they are operating close to homes and parks then we should have some right to know what we are exposed to.”
During a recent fracking process, Lynn and several of her neighbors reported a number of health issues like dizziness. She wanted to know if their ailments are connected to any of the chemicals used in drilling and fracking.
Texans, for the very first time, will gain easier access to information on the contents of the fracking fluid because of a new law that targets the fracking industry. It mandates companies to reveal on a public website most of the chemicals they used in the highly contentious process. About 10 chemicals are listed by the company that owns the drill site in Arlington it uses in fracking.
“I think this is necessary to get people settled down and realize that they are not being poisoned,” said Lynn.
Attorney Tom Kurth, who represents oil and gas companies believes that the transparency offered by the disclosure law will help quiet the industry critics.
Kurth said, “It was being used by those opposed to natural gas development as a terror measure, that there is some sinister dark and evil in the composition of fracturing chemicals.”
