Fracking hearing reset for Sept. 23

The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has rescheduled a public hearing on proposed hydraulic fracturing regulations.

The hearing originally was scheduled for Aug. 15. Now it’s set for Sept. 23.

The commission, which regulates drilling, has been honing the proposed regulations for several months.

The agency is proposing to add a new section titled “Hydraulic Fracturing” to the Alaska Administrative Code.

The regulations would include requirements for notification of landowners, surface owners and operators within a half-mile of the wellbore trajectory; water well sampling and analysis before and after fracking; disclosure of the volume and chemical makeup of fracking fluids; wellbore integrity; containment of fracking fluids; and casing and cementing.

Oral and written comments may be submitted at the hearing scheduled for 9 a.m. to noon Sept. 23 at the commission’s downtown Anchorage offices, 333 W. 7th Ave.

—Wesley Loy