The recording is now available in Halt the Harm Network! Hear updates on chemical disclosure compliance organizing opportunities following the May 2025 report, Oil & Gas Chemicals, Still Secret in Colorado. This is significant.
- Major victory achieved: The May report, Oil & Gas Chemicals, Still Secret in Colorado, increased industry compliance from under 40% to over 90% in just two months—demonstrating the power of transparency and accountability.
- Significant gaps remain: Companies are still failing to disclose drilling chemicals (about half the law’s requirements), and some are reporting use of prohibited substances including PFAS “forever chemicals.”
- Enforcement needed: An estimated $37+ million in fines remain uncollected, and the notification requirement to nearby schools, hospitals, and residents appears largely unimplemented.
Featured Speakers:
- Dusty Horwitt, J.D.
Lead Investigator and Report Author - Elizabeth (Beth) Gillespie MD MPH FACP,
Chair Elect, Physicians for Social Responsibility – Colorado - Ramesh Bhatt
Chair of the Colorado Sierra Club Conservation Committee - Gary Allison
Developer of Open-FF, the open source project to make FracFocus chemical data more accessible.
Important Links:
- Original Report (May 20, 2025), Oil & Gas Chemicals, Still Secret in Colorado
- OpenFF Colorado Update Page
- Colorado Rising Spills Report
- ECMC Chemical Disclosure Website Replay: Colorado’s Chemical Reporting Crisis (May 2025)
- Report and press release 5/20: “Oil & Gas Chemicals, Still Secret in Colorado”
- Article in the Guardian: “US oil firms pumping secret chemicals into ground and not fully reporting it”.
- View the Interactive Map: Fractracker Alliance Map
What’s happened since the report was released?
- Major victory achieved: The May report, Oil & Gas Chemicals, Still Secret in Colorado, increased industry compliance from under 40% to over 90% in just two months—demonstrating the power of transparency and accountability.
- Significant gaps remain: Companies are still failing to disclose drilling chemicals (about half the law’s requirements), and some are reporting use of prohibited substances including PFAS “forever chemicals.”
- Enforcement needed: An estimated $37+ million in fines remain uncollected, and the notification requirement to nearby schools, hospitals, and residents appears largely unimplemented.
Action Opportunities
- Action opportunities: Citizen verification of notifications, letters to editors, legislative pressure, scientific testing of wastewater, and replication in other states, and more. Join upcoming discussions to get involved or share an idea for action.
- Wide-reaching potential: Colorado’s law represents the first comprehensive chemical disclosure requirement in the nation, with no trade secret exemptions, offering a template for other states.