No More Fracking Secrets in Colorado May 21, 2025

This month, PSR and the PSR Colorado chapter took a big jump forward in our years-long campaign to protect Coloradoans from one of the many troubling health harms of fracking–the secret, noxious chemicals the industry uses to pump oil and gas out of the ground. In a new report released this month, PSR Colorado, Sierra Club Colorado, PSR National and FrackTracker, detail how oil and gas companies in the state pumped millions of pounds of secret chemicals into the ground without making legally mandated disclosures. 

This report exemplifies PSR’s collaborative approach and our commitment to long term research and advocacy. In 2022, PSR and PSR Colorado released a report on the widespread use of PFAS chemicals in Colorado wells. Following that report, we worked with partners in the state to secure a first in the nation law requiring fossil fuel companies to disclose all downhole chemical ingredients to Colorado’s oil and gas regulator, the Energy and Carbon Management Commission (ECMC). 

After passing the law, we continued to monitor its implementation. Although the disclosure requirements went into effect in July 2023, PSR’s new analysis shows that just 35% of the oil and gas companies have made any chemical disclosures. In total, well operators in Colorado could be liable for at least $37 million in fines. Chevron and its subsidiaries operate more than half of the wells with no reporting of their chemical use, and they alone could be liable for $20 million in fines. All this leaves Coloradoans in the dark while oil and gas companies pumped at least 30 million pounds of chemicals into the ground over the last 18 months.

As PSR Colorado board chair Elizabeth Gillepsie, MD, MPH pointed out to The Guardian, not knowing what kinds of chemicals are being used makes it tough for medical professionals like herself to treat patients who live near these wells, who face higher incidences of leukemia, birth abnormalities and other serious health outcomes linked to fracking-related exposures. These health risks are especially concerning to Coloradans after a Chevron well blowout in April sent a geyser of water, oil, crude oil, and toxic chemicals into the sky for four days, leading to evacuations of homes and a nearby elementary school. The company now estimates cleanup could take up to five years. The lack of legally mandated chemical disclosures makes response more difficult and more dangerous for the local community, first responders, and health care providers.

With the release of this new report, PSR Colorado and allies are calling on ECMC to enforce compliance by imposing penalties on those operators that continue operations without disclosing the chemicals they are using. We will continue to monitor this, together with our local partners, ensuring the voices of health professionals and impacted communities are represented. PSR has a longstanding commitment to holding fossil fuel companies accountable, together with our local chapters, and lessons learned from Colorado are valuable to our work across the country protecting public health and combating climate change.