11/10/10
The U.S. Environmental Projection Agency (EPA) has issued a subpoena to Halliburton (NYSE: HAL), following the company's refusal to fully comply with a request for information about the chemicals used in its hydraulic fracturing (aka fracking) process for natural gas extraction.
EPA said Halliburton is the lone holdout, among nine companies from which the agency requested information.
EPA’s congressionally mandated hydraulic fracturing study will look at the potential adverse impact of the practice on drinking water and public health. The agency is under a deadline to provide initial results by the end of 2012 and the thoroughness of the study depends on timely access to detailed information about the methods used for fracturing, EPA said.
According to a MSNBC report, a Halliburton spokeswoman, Teresa Wong, said the agency's request, made in September, was overly broad and could require the company to prepare about 50,000 spreadsheets.
"We have met with the agency and had several additional discussions with EPA personnel in order to help narrow the focus of their unreasonable demands so that we could provide the agency what it needs to complete its study of hydraulic fracturing," Wong said.
