But based upon questions about the process that the commission has been asking, the state is headed in the right direction to find a balance between the economic concerns of the energy industry and the public health questions raised by environmentalists and other residents.

Hydraulic “fracking” is the practice of pressurizing a mixture of sand and various fluids to fracture gas-bearing rock deep underground, creating pathways for the gas to flow toward a well bore.

The process has been used extensively in western Wyoming’s gas fields. Industry has credited increasingly sophisticated fracking and horizontal drilling techniques with unlocking about 100 years worth of new reserves in the state. Such development is obviously welcome in a state whose economy is dependent upon gas production.

But environmental and public health advocates contend there’s not enough information about the fluids being pumped underground, and not enough assurances that chemicals are not getting into drinking water sources. While the oil and gas industry’s position that studies have shown no conclusive evidence of contamination is true, a concerned U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced last month that it will study the potential human health and water quality effects of fracking.

The agency is already trying to determine whether fracking caused groundwater contamination in the Pavillion area in central Wyoming, as several residents have charged.

Both the state of Wyoming and industry agree that fracking should be overseen by state-level regulators, as it is now, instead of the EPA. We favor that approach, too. But at a public hearing last week on proposed state rules, Gov. Dave Freudenthal also put industry on notice that despite its opposition, more stringent state requirements are likely on the way.

The oil and gas industry argues that the formula each company uses for hydraulic fracking is proprietary information. It contends giving such material to regulators could compromise a firm’s competitive advantage.

The governor, however, told a Halliburton attorney that the state simply doesn’t know enough about the fracking fluids being pumped underground, which is true. “I know you’re here to stiff-arm us,” Freudenthal said with characteristic candor. “But I’m not sure what we have is sufficient to look them (EPA) in the eyes and say we’re doing it right.”

He added, correctly, that he’s not willing to just accept the industry’s reassurance that certain chemicals, such as diesel, aren’t being used in fracking. As the state’s chief executive, he noted, “I want to know what I’m saying to the public is true.”

Wyoming Outdoor Council attorney Steve Jones made a reasonable suggestion when he said companies could list the constituent fracking chemicals — much like Coca-Cola lists the ingredients in Coke without disclosing the secret Coke formula.

Industry officials balked at that idea, but they should be starting to realize that the days of having the state just take their word that chemicals used in fracking are safe are numbered. The full disclosure advocated by environmental groups isn’t likely to happen, either, but Freudenthal, as the WOGCC chairman, is right on target when he says a compromise is in order.