WASHINGTON, Nov. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is a statement by America's Natural Gas Alliance Vice President for Strategic Communications Dan Whitten on the release of today's report by the Secretary of Energy's Advisory Board Subcommittee on Shale Gas Production:

"We applaud the Board's acknowledgement of the importance of North American shale gas to our country's economic, environmental and energy future. We also are pleased to see its ongoing support for bolstering the role of the multi-stakeholder group STRONGER and the Ground Water Protection Council (GWPC) with whom we have worked to bring more transparency to the development process. However, we must take issue with certain language used by the Subcommittee as it pertains to industry development practices.

"We are highly committed to the safe and responsible development of this vital asset and to continuously pursuing innovations that can further advance these principles. Producers are publicly disclosing on a well-by-well basis, information on the hydraulic fracturing process through the state-led FracFocus.org registry.  We have embraced and continue to embrace cutting edge technological innovations from fluid recycling to air and water monitoring systems and water containment barriers.

"The industry has supported and is voluntarily moving forward with the recommendations contained in the recent National Petroleum Council report including the establishment of regional Centers of Excellence. And, we realize the importance of reaching out to those in communities who are not familiar with energy development to have factual and science-based conversations about operations as well as safety measures and extensive oversight already in place. These actions show that the industry is working in a collaborative fashion as recommended in this report.

"We look forward to continuing to engage constructively with the Department of Energy as well as the other agencies that are evaluating our work. We remain confident that a shared commitment to science-based, data-driven inquiries will help provide the public with greater assurance of the safety of our operations."

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America's Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA) represents 30 of North America's leading independent natural gas exploration and production companies. ANGA members are dedicated to increasing the appreciation of the environmental, economic and national security benefits of clean, abundant, American natural gas. Learn more about ANGA at www.anga.us.

SOURCE America's Natural Gas Alliance

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