Alberta to start using FracFocus

• Tweet

CALGARY, Alberta, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- Residents in Alberta will soon be able to get information about hydraulic fracturing fluid online, the provincial government said.

Alberta's Energy Resources Conservation Board said it will post information about hydraulic fracturing fluid on the Canadian website for the group FracFocus.

The government of British Columbia early this year became the first in Canada to start publishing data on the website, designed to provide information about the chemicals used in a process dubbed fracking.

"The enhanced reporting requirements will be effective as of Dec. 31 and will be mandatory for all hydraulic fracturing operations going forward," the ECRB stated.

"Albertans will begin to see increasing amounts of information on FracFocus by summer of 2013 as data from newly drilled and completed wells is reported under the new reporting rules."

This week, the ERCB said it was looking for comments on a paper drafted to examine ways that could protect water, minimize surface effects and maximize resource recovery in unconventional developments like shale.

Since the practice was introduced in the province in the 1950s, an estimated 170,000 wells have been explored using hydraulic fracturing.