For the third year in a row, some ExxonMobil shareholders want a vote on a proposal requiring the Irving, Texas, company to report its progress on limiting the environmental damage and community impact of hydraulic fracturing.
New York City Comptroller John Liu announced an official filing on the proposal Tuesday. The comptroller serves as the investment advisor to pension funds for the city's teachers, police and firefighters, who collectively hold more than $1 billion in ExxonMobil stock.
"Fracking carries significant concerns about poisoned drinking water, toxic chemical leaks, and explosions," Liu said. "Exxon Mobil says, 'Don't worry, we've got it covered' and asks us to take it at its word. Until the company shows us hard data on what it has done to protect the public and environment, shareowners cannot be confident that the necessary safeguards exist."
The proposal does not call for a disclosure of fracking fluids. ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson has already called for the company's service contractors to disclose their chemical compounds.
What the proposal requests is that ExxonMobil report progress on the use of green completions, reducing air emissions at well pads, the amount of water being recycled and the number of community complaints ExxonMobil has received.
The proposal also calls for disclosure of how many regulatory violations and penalties the company pays out in a given year.
Last year, the US Securities and Exchange Commission overruled management and said the provision belonged on the company's ballot at its annual meeting after a similar proposal received 28% of shareholder votes in 2011. In 2012 the measure received 30% of shareholder votes, well above the minimum required to get on the ballot.
ExxonMobil is one of 11 companies that are being pushed to divulge more information about their hydraulic fracturing practices in a campaign being coordinated by the non-profit group As You Sow.
ExxonMobil had no immediate comment.
