Democrats in Congress have drafted a new bill that would require natural gas companies to report any chemicals used in the potentially hazardous drilling practice of hydraulic fracturing. If passed, the new legislation will overturn a four-year-old law that, according to Congressional Republicans and former Vice President Dick Cheney, promotes growth in the burgeoning gas industry.

Hydraulic fracturing is an advanced drilling technique used by natural gas companies to extract reserves from layers of shale thousands of feet underground. The process involves injecting millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals deep into the earth to create fissures from which the gas floats to the surface.  In order to access the gas reserves, deep wells must be drilled far below the water table. The current exemption for these natural gas companies means that they are not obligated even to tell the public what’s being injected into the soil. Opponents of fracturing say that the chemicals being used pose a major threat to the local environment and the health of nearby communities.

Hydraulic fracturing was developed by chemical companies, including Halliburton and Schlumberger, who say the cocktail of chemicals they use to extract the gas is an industry secret, one they refuse to make public. The American Petroleum Institute and a number of Big Business-type legislators have come out in support of the exemption because it allows the burgeoning natural gas industry–what some see as oil’s replacement–to flourish. Natural gas, they say, is cleaner burning than oil, and may end American dependence on foreign oil. Fracturing has also contributed to economic growth in Colorado, Wyoming and the Appalachian states where jobs are in high demand.

Opponents of hydraulic fracturing, however, say the short-term economic benefits of the technique are outweighed by the damage it poses to local water supplies. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the natural gas industry is the only one exempted from the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974, which requires all companies to report what’s being injected underground. Although the EPA has not been able to study fracturing directly, a number of reports have emerged linking drilling operations with high levels of benzene and other contaminants in aquifers, streams and wells.

The question now remains whether the bill can garner enough support among Democrats in Congress. The industry has already invested millions lobbying Congress to let them operate unregulated, and have funded scientific study into the safety of fracturing. An early indicator of the struggle that the bill faces on the floor, Rep. John Salazar (D-CO), a longtime advocate for regulating the natural gas industry, recently withdrew his support for the bill over concerns that the bill may hurt energy companies.

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