The natural gas drilling industry refuses to disclose what potentially harmful chemicals are used in thousands of hydraulic fracturing gas wells across the country, despite evidence that the chemicals are poisoning drinking water supplies. As concerns mount, several states are considering action to curb use of the process despite the federal government's efforts to encourage it with large subsidies and environmental exemptions.

Recent actions by investors and the New York State Attorney General are pressuring companies to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and the risks they face from climate change. Many regard such information as essential to investors' right to know about the potential liabilities facing thousands of industries as the climate warms and new emissions regulations become a near certainty.

In a Sept. 24 congressional hearing, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defended its proposal to exempt factory farms from reporting on airborne and chemical emissions from animal waste, even though the agency has no reliable information on public health impacts of the pollution. Without the reports, communities would not know when potentially dangerous animal waste releases occur. Emergency responders would also have less information when responding to citizens' reports of noxious odors.

A government investigation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) process for assessing dangerous chemicals concludes the agency is so slow and lacking in credibility that the system is in "serious risk of becoming obsolete."

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently launched a pilot program to allow companies to electronically self-disclose violations of environmental laws. The new voluntary program, called eDisclosure, is designed to speed the processing times and reduce transaction costs for voluntary disclosures of violations under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA).

The Center for Public Integrity (CPI) has discovered that two groups of common pesticides, generally considered to be "safer" chemicals, are responsible for one quarter of reported human pesticide poisonings, based on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) own data. CPI spent several years demanding the release of the data through repeated Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. A trade association representing the interests of the consumer specialty products industry denounced the report.