The Interior Department may require natural gas drillers to disclose the chemicals being used in a controversial drilling technique called hydraulic fracturing.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says officials are weighing a policy that includes disclosure requirements for fluids used in the technique.
Salazar hosted a forum Tuesday on the drilling practice, in which crews inject millions of gallons of water, mixed with sand and chemicals, underground to force open channels in sand and rock formations so natural gas will flow.
Salazar called the technique "a hot and very difficult issue," both on public and private lands.
The New York Assembly approved a temporary ban on hydraulic fracturing this week.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
