Recently the Illinois legislature passed "the most restrictive regulations for hydraulic fracturing aka fracking in the US." They seemed to think that our overtaxed inspectors in an underfunded regulatory body would be able to keep up with what oil and gas companies were doing. Since the inspections already required by the Illinois Dept. of Natural Resources rules and regulations regarding other resources are not being done I and most Illinoisans find it hard to swallow that they can and will protect the resources or the people, animals and land that will be impacted by fracking. One huge hurdle will be the fact that most "fracturing fluids" are actually a stew of chemicals and a large part of those chemicals are proprietorially patented, which means the company doesn't have to tell anyone, including inspectors or regulators what's in it. How do you regulate something when you don't know what you're looking for?
The second largest issue is defining an "emergency" at the well head. Companies want the right to discharge "emergency discharge" into open pits and keep it there for an undetermined period of time. Oh, and they get to define what an "emergency" is and how long it lasts too. Sound familiar? Think West Virginia and the fact those tanks were built in the 1940's and haven't been inspected since 1991! Oh, and watch what happens in Missouri to some "emergency" spillage. Here:http://www.ksdk.com/...