Cathy Behr is back at work and recovering after she fell ill from helping a man who showed up at the hospital soaked in unknown chemicals. The worker's company wouldn't share information about the chemicals that could have helped Behr's doctor diagnose and treat her injury, she said.

At the time, she was suffering from liver, heart and lung failure in Mercy's intensive care unit.

Behr talked about her experience Wednesday with The Durango Herald, just as state regulators are considering new rules to require companies to disclose their chemicals.

"I didn't have the knowledge base of how risky and dangerous the chemicals were. Now we do," Behr said.

Behr stressed that she's not angry at anyone. She wanted to share her experience Wednesday at a hearing of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, but commissioners decided not to allow her testimony.

Privacy rules prevent Behr from saying which chemical made her and the worker sick, she said. The rules also prevented Mercy officials from revealing the gas-field worker's employer.

The commission is in the middle of a multi-week hearing to rewrite the rules on gas and oil production, and on Wednesday, commissioners considered requiring companies to disclose to the state which chemicals they use on their well sites.

Durango attorney Tom Dugan, on behalf of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, the Colorado Petroleum Association and Halliburton, argued that Behr shouldn't be allowed to testify because commission staff added her name to the witness list in the last few days - too late for the industry to prepare a rebuttal. Dugan called it "classic, last-minute sand-bagging."

Commission director David Neslin said he just learned of Behr's story last week and encouraged the nine commissioners to hear her testimony.

But the commission voted 5-4 against letting Behr testify. Local commissioners Kimberlee Miskell Gerhardt and Tom Compton voted against allowing Behr's testimony, saying it would have opened the door to other groups that wanted to call last-minute witnesses. Commission chairman Harris Sherman also voted against Behr's testimony.

La Plata County commissioners issued a statement saying they were disappointed Behr was denied the opportunity to testify.

"We believe Ms. Behr's testimony is vital to understanding the gravity of the public health concerns related to the disclosure of propriety chemicals used in oil and gas drilling operations and the necessity for such disclosure to public health officials, local hospitals and other providers of emergency care," the statement said.

Neslin's staff has proposed wide-ranging rules based on bills backed by Gov. Bill Ritter. It will be up to the commissioners to adopt the rules. They took no action Wednesday and plan to vote on the rules the second week of August.

Behr said she's not angry at the industry.

"The oil and gas industry - they didn't intend to harm me. I know that, although they seem a little fearful of what I might say. I just want our system to be better," she said.

The proposed rules would require companies to detail to the COGCC's staff which chemicals they use to drill and complete a well. Well completion involves hydraulically fracturing the rock formations that hold the gas to let it flow easily to the surface.

Three companies - Halliburton, Schlumberger and BJ Services - dominate the fracing industry.

Dale Davis with Halliburton argued against the disclosure rule. Halliburton protects its frac-fluid formula because it leads to a 20 percent to 30 percent increase in well production, he said.

If Halliburton had to disclose its formula, even only to state regulators, the company would quit using its secret formula in Colorado, and well production would drop, he said.

"The combination of lost tax revenue and lost jobs will have an overall detrimental effect on the state economy," Davis said.

Fracing chemicals aren't regulated under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, said Renee Lewis Kosnik with the Oil and Gas Accountability Project in Durango.

"You can pump all that you want into the ground," Kosnik said.

Gas-industry critics have long complained about the composition of frac fluids.

But representatives of Halliburton and other companies said current federal laws are good enough. Fracing companies keep Materials Safety Data Sheets that offer information about their chemicals. The supervisor of the sick worker who showed up at Mercy's emergency room gave a Materials Safety Data Sheet to the hospital's medical staff. But the sheet didn't offer enough detailed information to be of great use, Behr said.

Much is still unknown about the Mercy incident, including the identity and fate of the gas company worker. Mercy employees, including Behr, said they can't talk about him or reveal where he worked because of privacy laws.

David Bruzzese, spokesman at Mercy, confirmed a patient contaminated with a potentially harmful chemical was brought into the emergency room, but he couldn't provide further information, citing a continuing investigation.

He also confirmed that a Code Orange was issued, which sets forth protocols to be followed for potentially harmful or unknown chemical substances.

"We're still looking into the situation," he said. "I can't provide additional information."

The state Department of Health and Environment usually doesn't keep records on such incidents, and it has no report of Behr's injury at Mercy, said Mark Salley, the department's spokesman.

The site of the original chemical accident isn't known. The COGCC's Neslin said he doesn't think it happened in Colorado, and the COGCC is not investigating. Los Pinos Fire Protection District spokesman Tom Aurnhammer said he couldn't recall responding to a gas-field spill in April.

Jane Tabor, a spokeswoman for New Mexico's Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, said New Mexico oil regulators don't know of such an incident. And the Bureau of Land Management's Farmington office has not heard of any spills.

Behr still doesn't know long-term health effects of her exposure.

"Well, I guess we'll just see what happens," she said.

Meanwhile, she wants better disclosure of the chemicals.

"I just think it would be so much safer for our communities and our emergency workers if we knew what chemicals are out there."

Herald Staff Writer Shane Benjamin contributed to this report. Click here to send an email to the author