Congressional field hearing on hydraulic fracking in Denver

DENVER (AP) — Western state officials took turns bashing the federal government at a congressional field hearing on proposed nationwide drilling rules on hydraulic fracturing.

But Democrats on the panel Wednesday, along with some Colorado environmental activists, insisted that health concerns around the drilling procedure known as fracking mean there is a need for common health and safety standards.

Officials from Colorado, Wyoming and Utah testified before the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources Wednesday at the Colorado Capitol. The state officials said states are better suited than the Department of Interior at regulating drilling. They clashed with Colorado environmentalists and a Democratic congressman from New Jersey who argued that health concerns are the same in Western states and Eastern states and that national drilling regulation is appropriate.