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On Wednesday, May 27, the Natural Resources Committee of the Nebraska Legislature will hold a hearing on LB 664 (full text below), Sen. Ernie Chambers’ bill that would compel disclosure of all chemicals found in fracking waste in Nebraska.
Stand with us at the hearing: 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. (CT) in Room 1525 of the State Capitol.
Citizens may also testify via a videoconference link in north Scottsbluff:
Educational Service Unit (ESU) 13
4215 Avenue I
Scottsbluff, NE 69361
The hearing will be limited to just 90 minutes, and only a few members of the public will be allowed to speak via either the remote videoconferencing link in Scottsbluff, or in the hearing room at the Capitol. We strongly encourage you to submit written testimony on LB 664 using the form above.
If you’re not able to attend the hearing, NET Nebraska will broadcast it live on cable TV, and stream it live online here.
Below is some context to help you write your testimony, which must be submitted by the morning of Wednesday, May 27.
Sen. Chambers’ bill adds a new requirement to state law that requires companies to semiannually test and publicly disclose all chemicals in fracking wastewater disposed of in Nebraska:
“The commission shall require any person applying for permission to dispose of wastewater, including wastewater generated from oil and gas well production in other states, by injection into commercial salt water injection wells in Nebraska to provide a listing of all chemicals in the wastewater. If the application is granted, the commission shall require semiannual updates to the listing of all chemicals in the wastewater. The listings shall be public records.”
KEY POINTS ON LB 664:
- The industry runs a fracking chemicals disclosure website called FracFocus. But the industry can’t be trusted to “self-report” what chemicals they use in fracking — the EPA even found 11% of chemicals used in fracking were not disclosed by drillers to FracFocus, claimed as “trade secrets” by drillers.
- Harvard Law School’s Environmental Law Program report details critical flaws of FracFocus industry-run disclosure site (embedded below).
- Big Oil’s “trade secret” argument is trumped by need to address threat to precious drinking water.
- Toxic chemicals already documented in Colorado and Wyoming fracking fluid as self-reported by drillers (see below). The Terex fracking wastewater well recently approved by the Oil & Gas Commission would dump exported wastewater from CO and WY in Nebraska.
- Fracking wastewater in California found to contain dangerous levels of toxic and carcinogenic chemicals such as benzene and toluene, in some cases 1,500 times the level the federal government says is safe for drinking water.
Chemicals already documented in fracking fluid in Colorado and Wyoming: 
