News
The Sierra Club: “Oil and Gas Companies Routinely Frack With ‘Trade Secret’ Chemicals, Including PFAS”
In the magazine “Sierra”, the Sierra Club covers PSR’s shocking investigative report about the use of toxic PFAS and other unknown chemicals protected as “trade secrets” that are widely used in fracking in Colorado.
NEW PSR REPORT: Oil and Gas Companies Withheld Fracking Chemical Identities from Public in More than 12,000 Colorado Wells over Past Decade; Interactive Map Shows Locations
A new report from Physicians for Social Responsibility shows previously unpublicized use of PFAS (“Forever Chemicals”) in fracking in Colorado between 2011 – 2021, but gaps in chemical disclosure rules limit the public’s ability to know full extent of use.
Colorado law currently allows oil and gas companies to withhold fracking chemical identities from the public and from regulators by claiming them as “trade secrets.” As the report documents, companies have utilized that provision thousands of times to avoid disclosing exactly what chemicals they use. This secrecy prevents the public from knowing how widely PFAS – or other toxic chemicals – have been used in oil and gas wells, raising concerns that Coloradans are unknowingly exposed to dangerous hazardous substances.
Oil company hasn't replaced leaking tanks near Fort Collins despite months of complaints (The Coloradoan)
Former PSR Colorado board member, Cory Carroll, is quoted in this recent article in The Coloradoan. The article details the impacts that fugitive emissions from leaky oil and gas equipment and actively-producing operations near North Fort Collins are having on residents living in close proximity to the Prospect Energy site, and the inadequate response from State and local regulators.
Opinion: The health risks of fracking justify Adams County’s new regulations
The ColoradoSun online newspaper published my op-ed today about the Adams County Commissioners’ new fracking regulations. It’s similar to the comments I submitted to each Commissioner during the public comment period.
PSR in the news: Boulder Daily Camera
If Dr. Helmig is guilty of monetary improprieties, as implied by the university, I will guarantee it was a mistake. My assertion is that Dr. Helmig’s work revealed the health hazards from fracking, and those wells are owned by an extremely powerful group (the oil and gas industry), and that group wanted him silenced.
Dr. Detlev Hemig fired from CU
In April 2020, Dr. Helmig, was abruptly fired from his academic post with the university barring him from his lab and 25 years of research. This was an unexpected action to remove a researcher who was willing to publish data contradicting the powerful Oil and Gas Industry. PSR Colorado is concerned that the firing of Dr. Helmig is political and related to the financial ties the Oil and Gas industry has with CU Boulder.