Environmentalists applaud frack formula release

    Environmental advocates are applauding the move by natural gas developer Range Resources to publicly list the chemicals it injects into the ground at well sites.

    A draft report written by Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection last month claimed companies are using toxins that cause cancer and neurological diseases, but the department has since backed away from that claim.

    Range Resources will be the first company to disclose the chemicals it mixes into the water and blasts into the ground to extract natural gas from shale rocks.

    The company’s Vice President, Ray Walker, says the company is making the information public in order to calm fears.

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    “They are pumped in a highly diluted form,” he says of the chemicals. “And the chemicals that we actually put in the frack fluid that’s pumped down the hole are very comparable to household items. And you’ll see that also in these reports. Comparisons to things you and I would understand.”

    Jan Jarrett, the president and CEO of PennFuture, says she’s still concerned by the chemicals Range Resources and other drillers are injecting into the ground, but she applauds the company’s announcement as a step in the right direction.

    Jarrett is urging other drillers to follow Range’s lead and disclose what chemicals they’re using.

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