Fracking Timeline Archives
Fracking Timeline

6/18/2013: Illinois governor signed strictest fracking law in nation

4/24/2013: Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that natural gas is not a “mineral”

3/6/2013: New York lawmakers approved two-year fracking moratorium

12/21/2012: EPA released progress report on study to better understand the effects of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water

9/4/2012: Attorneys for Pennsylvania state agencies submitted briefs in appeal on hydraulic fracturing zoning rights ruling

8/16/2012: Cabot Oil and Gas reached an undisclosed settlement with citizens of Dimock, Pennsylvania, on the issue of water supplies possibly contaminated by hydraulic fracturing

7/27/2012: Several Pennsylvania state agencies appealed ruling on Act 13 zoning rights for hydraulic fracturing

7/26/2012: Pennsylvania court ruled that Act 13 oil and gas law violated state constitution

7/25/2012: Talisman Energy penalized $62,000 for hazardous chemical reporting violations at Pennsylvania hydraulic fracturing sites

7/1/2012: North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue extended a hydraulic fracturing ban in the state

5/17/2012: Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin banned hydraulic fracturing in the state

5/4/2012: EPA released draft guidance for oil and natural gas wells that use diesel fuel during the hydraulic fracturing process

2/14/2012: Pennsylvania Act 13 signed into law

1/9/2012: New Jersey legislature limited hydraulic fracturing ban to one year after Governor Chris Christie conditionally vetoed a complete ban

1/5/2012: CDC official stated that US should study whether hydraulic fracturing poses hazardous effects to people or food sources

12/13/2011: The Railroad Commission of Texas passed rules requiring the disclosure of chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing process

11/3/2011: EPA announced plan to study the effects of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water at several US sites

10/20/2011: EPA announced plans to develop standards for the disposal of groundwater from the hydraulic fracturing process

6/28/2011: New Jersey legislature passed ban on natural shale gas hydraulic fracturing

6/1/2011: New York attorney general sued the US government for failing to investigate the risks of hydraulic fracturing

11/15/2010: US District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania held that gas-well drilling may be an abnormally dangerous activity subject to strict liability

11/9/2010: EPA subpoenaed Halliburton to provide information on chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing process

6/8/2010: Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission approved rules that require energy companies to disclose chemicals used during the hydraulic fracturing process

8/8/2005: Energy Policy Act of 2005 exempted hydraulic fracturing operations which use diesel fuel during the process

8/14/2001: Devon Energy Corporation acquired Mitchell Energy and Development Corporation, which had developed a process that allowed for the hydraulic fracturing of shale gas deposits

7/27/2001: EPA requested data on groundwater contamination linked to hydraulic fracturing

5/1/1981: US Department of the Interior Geological Survey published the results [PDF] of the Eastern Gas Shales Project

12/31/1949: Stanolind employee Riley Farris filed a patent for a hydraulic fracturing process “increasing the productivity of an oil or gas well”

3/17/1949: Halliburton and Stanolind Oil and Gas Company performed the first successful commercial hydraulic fractures in Oklahoma and Texas

4/18/1939: Ira McCullough patented an improved fracturing device that fired several explosive projectiles through the cement well casing into the surrounding earth

3/1/1921: Erle Halliburton awarded a US patent for an improved process to stabilize wells

1/21/1865: Edward Roberts detonated explosive charges in a Pennsylvania oil well to fracture the earth and improve oil flow