Fracking chemicals disclosed

By late June, the Western States Petroleum Association will disclose what chemicals its member companies use in California during the hydraulic-fracturing oil-extraction process on the website “Frac Focus.”

The announcement comes as Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration begins the drafting process for the state’s first regulations on fracking, the controversial extraction method that involves pumping a high-pressure mixture of water and chemicals deep underground to break up rock formations, according to The Sacramento Bee. The association said fracking was used in 628 of California’s tens of thousands of oil wells last year.

On May 16, Vermont became the first state in the nation to ban fracking, which has been linked to contaminated groundwater and small earthquakes.

“Human beings survived for thousands and thousands of years without oil and without natural gas,” Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin said of the law. “We have never known humanity or life on this plant to survive without clean water.”