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New West Virginia rules for fracking

Hundreds of marchers head out from Marmet, West Virginia, on a five day, 50 mile trek through West Virginia southern coalfields in an effort to stop mountaintop removal mining and draw attention to mining threats to Blair Mountain, June 6, 2011. The mountain is the site of a 1921 armed uprising between 7,500 and 10,000 coal miners marched for better working and living conditions in the mines. The uprising was the largest since the Civil War and was put down by federal troops. UPI/Debbie Hill
1 of 2 | Hundreds of marchers head out from Marmet, West Virginia, on a five day, 50 mile trek through West Virginia southern coalfields in an effort to stop mountaintop removal mining and draw attention to mining threats to Blair Mountain, June 6, 2011. The mountain is the site of a 1921 armed uprising between 7,500 and 10,000 coal miners marched for better working and living conditions in the mines. The uprising was the largest since the Civil War and was put down by federal troops. UPI/Debbie Hill | License Photo

CHARLESTON, W.Va., July 13 (UPI) -- Companies working in shale gas deposits in West Virginia need to disclose compounds in the hydraulic fracturing fluid before starting, the governor said.

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin filed an executive order directing the state's environmental agency to disseminate new regulations concerning drilling activity in the Marcellus Shale deposit.

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Under the executive order, companies must provide a list of additives in the fluid used to release natural gas from shale deposits. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in February said eight of the nine companies that practice fracking voluntarily handed over information to help the agency examine the practice.

The United States has some of the richest deposits of shale gas in the world. U.S. lawmakers expressed concern that chemicals used during fracking, the process used to extract natural gas from shale rock formations, are carcinogenic or otherwise harmful and could get into groundwater supplies.

"This executive order is the first step in my long-term plan to ensure responsible development of Marcellus Shale," Tomblin said in a statement.

Operators in Michigan under new measures passed in May are required to post a Material Safety Data Sheet listing characteristics of the chemical additives used in fracking fluid.

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The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality said fracking has been practiced in the state without incident for more than 70 years.

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