AOGCC sets hearing on fracking regs

The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has scheduled an Aug. 15 public hearing to consider the latest draft of its proposed regulations on hydraulic fracturing. The commission, which regulates drilling, has been honing the proposed regulations for several months.

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is not new in Alaska, and commissioners say the agency already has regulations in place to ensure safe, clean drilling.

But the commission is proposing changes in regulations to clarify its rules on fracking, which involves pumping water and certain additives underground to break, or fracture, rock formations to release oil and gas.

Under the proposed changes, a new section titled “Hydraulic Fracturing” would be added to the Alaska Administrative Code.

The regulations would include requirements for notification of landowners, surface owners and operators within half a 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.

The proposed regulations are on the commission’s website at www.aogcc.alaska.gov.

Oral and written comments may be submitted at the hearing scheduled for 9 a.m. to noon Aug. 15 at the commission’s downtown Anchorage offices, 333 W. 7th Ave.

—Wesley Loy