Texas Sharon's Bluedaze

Fracking News

Keeping dirty fracking secrets

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During the last legislative session in Texas, when the fracking disclosure bill was submitted, I warned that this weak disclosure bill would confuse the public into believing they were protected when they weren’t.

I was right.

The media failed the public interest when, despite my protests, they continually proclaimed the Texas bill as full disclosure.

Here’s now Texas disclosure stacks up according to the Bloomberg article published today.

  • Industry is allowed to keep chemicals secret under the trade secret loophole.
  • Through August of this year, industry has kept about 19,000 dirty secrets in Texas.
  • Nationwide one of every five fracking chemicals was kept secret under the trade secret loophole.
  • Texas has more than five dirty fracking secrets on each well.
  • Halliburton and Baker Hughes, fracking giants, kept nine dirty fracking secrets per well.
  • Prize winner – Superior Well Services kept more than 32 dirty fracking secrets per well.
  • One out of every seven fracking ingredients pumped into 3,639 wells was kept secret in Texas.
  • With no explanation, Texas operators failed to disclose information in 5,000 instances. Add these 5,000 increases the average of dirty fracking secrets per well from five to seven.
  • Nationally companies failed to disclose 22% of the time.
  • Oklahoma had the most dirty fracking secrets.
  • Baker Hughes averaged 9.1 dirty fracking secrets
  • Halliburton averaged 9.3 dirty fracking secrets.
  • Superior Well Services averaged 32.5 dirty fracking secrets.
  • American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) uses the Texas disclosure bill as model legislation.
  • It would be “a horrible mistake” for other states to use the Texas bill as a blueprint ~Lon Burnam.
  • Elizabeth Aimes Jones learned nothing from her recent political trouncing.

Frack Secrets by Thousands Keep U.S. Clueless on Wells
By Ben Elgin, Benjamin Haas & Phil Kuntz – Nov 29, 2012

Also see FracUNfocusED where Dory connects some dots.

About Sharon Wilson

Sharon Wilson is considered a leading citizen expert on the impacts of shale oil and gas extraction. She is the go-to person whether it’s top EPA officials from D.C., national and international news networks, or residents facing the shock of eminent domain and the devastating environmental effects of natural gas development in their backyards.

Comments

  1. Andy Mechling says

    Thank you Sharon; I hope your readers will read the article.
    I think EDF and Sierra Club meant well. They got hosed, for sure, but they should have seen this coming. They should be ashamed.
    I hope orgs like earthworks and skytruth will take note.
    Meaningful disclosure remains a pipe dream and nothing more.

    Like so much spoiled meat; bad data is dangerous, and needs to be disposed of straight away. The fact that we are all starving for good information changes little.