The virtual platform FracFocus.org and the Oklahoma Corporation Commission are the two entities that will gather information about the chemicals used in all the fracking operations going on in the state of Oklahoma. The local operators of oil and gas wells are now forced to report all substances used in the process of hydraulic fracturing.
Both institutions will then add the information to the online database, the site Mining reports, according to a new regulation in effect since the middle of this week. The new set of laws is an expansion of a rule that requires operators of horizontal wells in Oklahoma to disclose the constitution of their fracking fluids since 2013.
The state, considered a leading oil and gas producer in the United States, is apparently trying to increase the regulation for the industry. One of the reasons for this decision might be related to to safety and the environment, concerns that were heightened by a report entitled “Earthquake Swarm Continues in Central Oklahoma”.
The document, released by the US Geological Survey during last October in partnership with the Oklahoma Geological Survey, noted that more than 200 magnitude 3.0 or greater earthquakes had rattled Central Oklahoma since January 2009.
This constitutes a significant rise in the frequency of the seismic events and, according to the experts, the earthquake rate doesn’t seem to be caused by typical or random fluctuations in natural seismicity rates.