Chesapeake Operating: Omissions of quantity data

Summary: FracFocus disclosures that omit fundamental quantity information undermine the integrity of the fracking chemical data. Open-FF (1) found that the operator Chesapeake Operating, Inc. published 2143 disclosures with quantity data missing for at least some records. It was among companies publishing the most records with no quantity data. We summarize those omissions here.

A chemical disclosure instrument such as FracFocus depends on accurate and complete data. Individual disclosures with poor or missing data can erode the trust of users for the entire system. FracFocus, unfortunately, has many disclosures with missing data. This post is part of Open-FF’s effort to improve FracFocus data integrity and to alert stakeholders to these data weaknesses.

Along with the identity of a chemical used in a fracking operation, the quantity is critical information. The range of material quantities reported in FracFocus stretches from less than one pound to over a million pounds. When quantity data is missing, a reader of a disclosure won’t be able to tell if, say, a hydrochloric acid record is for one pound or one million pounds – the difference between a small jar’s worth and many tanker trucks full.

We’ve found many such data omissions (2) in the disclosures of the operating company, Chesapeake Operating, Inc.. As of this date, we’ve found 2143 disclosures with at least one omission. That is 41.5% of all of the company’s disclosures. The following chart shows when those fracking jobs occurred and how many records were missing data.

More than half of all operators reporting to FracFocus had NO records with quantity omissions. In the following graph, each point is an operator. The companies without omissions are not on this graph. Just 25% of companies are above the horizontal line, and 25% to the right of the vertical line. Chesapeake Operating, Inc. is highlighted in orange. Clearly a small fraction of companies account for much of the lacking records and Chesapeake Operating, Inc. is part of that club.

These flawed disclosures are for fracking jobs in the following states.

State	number of disclosures with omissions
Texas	958
Oklahoma	293
Pennsylvania	276
Ohio	253
Louisiana	189
Wyoming	138
West Virginia	35
New Mexico	1

The following table lists the materials for which quantity was omitted and how many records of Chesapeake Operating, Inc. were affected.

CASRN	Name	Molecular structure	Number of missing values
67-56-1	Methanol		654
50-00-0	Formaldehyde		270
79-06-1	Acrylamide		270
64-02-8	Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid tetrasodium salt		269
64742-47-8	Distillates (petroleum), hydrotreated light	no image	207
78330-21-9	Alcohols, C11-14-isoalcohols, C13-rich, ethoxylated	no image	203
10049-04-4	Chlorine dioxide		189
107-19-7	Propargyl alcohol		184
67762-90-7	Siloxanes and Silicones, di-Me, reaction products with silica	no image	161
541-02-6	Decamethylcyclopentasiloxane		160
556-67-2	Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane		160
540-97-6	Dodecamethylcyclohexasiloxane		157
98-86-2	Acetophenone		122
1310-73-2	Sodium hydroxide		116
64-19-7	Acetic acid		100
7758-98-7	Copper sulfate		88
14808-60-7	Quartz (SiO2)	no image	86
9002-84-0	Polytetrafluoroethylene		72
107-21-1	Ethylene glycol		66
9000-30-0	alpha-D-Galactopyrano-beta-D-mannopyranan	no image	62
6381-77-7	Sodium erythorbate		56
67-63-0	Isopropanol		54
91-20-3	Naphthalene		54
69011-36-5	Polyoxyethylene trimethyldecyl alcohol	no image	54
61791-26-2	PEG-10 Hydrogenated tallow amine	no image	47
56-81-5	Glycerol		46
68527-49-1	Thiourea, polymer with formaldehyde and 1-phenylethanone	no image	45
64-17-5	Ethanol		44
77-92-9	Citric acid		40
104-76-7	2-Ethyl-1-hexanol		38
9005-65-6	Polysorbate 80	no image	37
9004-32-4	Edifas B	no image	34
533-74-4	Dazomet		33
11138-66-2	Corn sugar gum	no image	33
7632-00-0	Sodium nitrite		33
2634-33-5	1,2-Benzisothiazolin-3-one		33
68551-12-2	Alcohols, C12-16, ethoxylated	no image	28
63148-62-9	Siloxanes and Silicones, di-Me	no image	27
36089-45-9	2-Propenoic acid, 2-ethylhexyl ester, polymer with 2-hydroxyethyl 2-propenoate	no image	24
68308-89-4	Fatty acids, C18-unsatd., dimers, ethoxylated propoxylated	no image	24
68937-55-3	Siloxanes and Silicones, di-Me, 3-hydroxypropyl Me, ethoxylated propoxylated	no image	24
127-08-2	Potassium acetate		21
14807-96-6	Talc	no image	20
143-18-0	Potassium oleate		20
64743-02-8	Alkenes, C>10 alpha-	no image	19
68951-67-7	Alcohols, C14-15, ethoxylated	no image	19
7727-54-0	Diammonium peroxydisulfate		18
5064-31-3	Glycine, N,N-bis(carboxymethyl)-, trisodium salt		18
7647-01-0	Hydrochloric acid		17
111-42-2	Diethanolamine		17
100-44-7	Benzyl chloride		17
68439-46-3	Alcohols, C9-11, ethoxylated	no image	16
141-53-7	Sodium formate		15
112-80-1	Oleic acid		15
64-18-6	Formic acid		15
75-21-8	Ethylene oxide		14
75-56-9	(+/-)-1,2-Propylene oxide		14
2836-32-0	Glycolic acid sodium salt		14
123-91-1	1,4-Dioxane		14
1338-41-6	Anhydrosorbitol stearate	no image	14
95-63-6	1,2,4-Trimethylbenzene		13
66455-15-0	Alcohols, C10-14, ethoxylated	no image	13
111-76-2	2-Butoxyethanol		13
72480-70-7	Tar bases, quinoline derivatives, benzyl chloride-quaternized	no image	13
17593-73-6	[(Carboxymethyl)amino]acetate		13
109-55-7	3-(Dimethylamino)propylamine		12
108-01-0	Dimethylaminoethanol		12
61790-66-7	Fatty acids, tall-oil, compds. with diethanolamine	no image	12
68140-01-2	N-[3-(Dimethylamino)propyl] coco amides	no image	12
9003-11-6	Poloxalene	no image	12
25322-68-3	Polyethylene glycol		12
68412-54-4	Polyoxyethylene branched-C9-alkylphenol	no image	11
127087-87-0	Poly(oxy-1,2-ethanediyl),alpha-(4-nonylphenyl)-omega-hydroxy-,branched	no image	9
104-55-2	3-Phenylprop-2-enal		9
61790-12-3	Fatty acids, tall-oil	no image	9
10486-00-7	Sodium perborate tetrahydrate		9
68015-67-8	Poly(oxy-1,2-ethanediyl), alpha-(2,3,4,5-tetramethylnonyl)-omega-hydroxy-		8
111-30-8	Glutaraldehyde		8
68424-85-1	C12-16-Alkylbenzyldimethylammonium chlorides		8
64742-94-5	Solvent naphtha, petroleum, heavy arom.	no image	8
68603-42-9	Amides, coco, N,N-bis(hydroxyethyl)	no image	8
1338-43-8	Sorbitan, mono-(9Z)-9-octadecenoate		7
68-12-2	N,N-Dimethylformamide		7
7664-38-2	Phosphoric acid		6
27103-90-8	Polyquaternium-14	no image	6
7631-86-9	Silica		6
52501-07-2	Aziridine, polymer with methyloxirane and oxirane	no image	6
12125-02-9	Ammonium chloride		6
68123-18-2	Phenol, 4,4′-(1-methylethylidene)bis-, polymer with 2-(chloromethyl)oxirane, 2-methyloxirane and oxirane	no image	6
139-08-2	Tetradecyldimethylbenzylammonium chloride		5
122-18-9	Benzylhexadecyldimethylammonium chloride		5
26062-79-3	Polyquaternium-6	no image	5
139-07-1	Benzyldimethyldodecylammonium chloride		5
27176-87-0	Dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid		5
68909-77-3	Ethanol, 2,2′-oxybis-, reaction products with ammonia, morpholine derivs. residues	no image	5
10043-52-4	Calcium chloride		4
15619-48-4	1-Benzylquinolinium chloride		4
7173-51-5	Didecyldimethylammonium chloride		4
68439-50-9	Alcohols, C12-14, ethoxylated	no image	4
7447-40-7	Potassium chloride		3
73070-48-1	Phosphoric acid, 2-ethylhexyl ester, compd. with 2,2′-iminobis[ethanol]		3
78-40-0	Triethyl phosphate		3
111-46-6	Diethylene glycol		3
68989-00-4	Quaternary ammonium compounds, benzyl-C10-16-alkyldimethyl, chlorides	no image	3
13598-36-2	Phosphonic acid		3
71050-62-9	2-Propenoic acid, polymer with sodium phosphinate	no image	3
7722-84-1	Hydrogen peroxide		2
68953-58-2	Quaternary ammonium compounds, bis(hydrogenated tallow alkyl)dimethyl, salts with bentonite	no image	2
9051-89-2	1,​4-​Dioxane-​2,​5-​dione, 3,​6-​dimethyl-​, (3R,​6R)​-​, polymer with rel-​(3R,​6S)​-​3,​6-​dimethyl-​1,​4-​dioxane-​2,​5-​dione and (3S,​6S)​-​3,​6-​dimethyl-​1,​4-​dioxane-​2,​5-​dione	no image	2
108-24-7	Acetic anhydride		2
9004-67-5	Methyl cellulose	no image	2
9003-04-7	Sodium polyacrylate		2
78330-20-8	Alcohols, C9-11-iso-, C10-rich, ethoxylated	no image	2
7758-19-2	Sodium chlorite		2
144-55-8	Sodium bicarbonate		2
78330-19-5	Alcohols, C7-9-iso-, C8-rich, ethoxylated	no image	2
27306-79-2	Poly(oxy-1,2-ethanediyl), alpha-tetradecyl-omega-hydroxy-	no image	2
30846-35-6	Formaldehyde, polymer with 4-nonylphenol and oxirane	no image	2
68002-97-1	Ethoxylated C10-16 alcohols	no image	2
34690-00-1	[[(Phosphonomethyl)imino]bis[6,1-hexanediylnitrilobis(methylene)]]tetrakis-phosphonic acid		2
1310-58-3	Potassium hydroxide		2
1309-48-4	Magnesium oxide		2
557-04-0	Magnesium stearate		2
5949-29-1	1,2,3-Propanetricarboxylic acid, 2-hydroxy-, hydrate (1:1)		2
112-88-9	1-Octadecene		2
68584-22-5	(C10-C16) Alkylbenzenesulfonic acid		2
68442-77-3	2-Butenediamide, (2E)-, N,N’-bis[2-(4,5-dihydro-2-nortall-oil alkyl-1H-imidazol-1-yl)ethyl] derivs.	no image	2
68155-20-4	Tall-oil fatty acid DEA	no image	1
1303-96-4	Borax (B4Na2O7.10H2O)	no image	1
57-13-6	Urea		1
110-30-5	N,N’-Ethylene distearylamide		1
56449-46-8	Poly(oxyethylene) oleyl ester	no image	1
108-32-7	Propylene carbonate		1
127-09-3	Sodium acetate		1
9002-89-5	Polyvinyl alcohol		1
9002-92-0	Polyoxyethylene dodecyl mono ether		1
15821-83-7	2-Butoxy-1-propanol		1
1309-42-8	Magnesium hydroxide		1
68-11-1	Thioglycolic acid		1
9005-64-5	Polysorbate 20	no image	1
112-30-1	1-Decanol		1
9012-54-8	Cellulase	no image	1
9016-45-9	Nonylphenoxypolyethoxyethanol		1
1336-21-6	Ammonium hydroxide		1
34004-36-9	(2,3-dihydroxypropyl)trimethylammonium chloride		1
92908-33-3	Ulexite, calcined	no image	1
3327-22-8	(3-Chloro-2-hydroxypropyl)trimethylammonium chloride		1
584-08-7	Potassium carbonate		1
593-81-7	Trimethylamine hydrochloride		1
78-21-7	Cetylethylmorpholinium ethosulfate		1
25038-72-6	Vinylidene chloride/methylacrylate copolymer	no image	1
224635-63-6	Acetic acid, reaction products with acetophenone, cyclohexylamine, formaldehyde and methanol	no image	1
67254-71-1	Alcohols, C10-12, ethoxylated	no image	1
14452-57-4	Magnesium peroxide (Mg(O2)​)		1
75-50-3	Trimethylamine		1
71-36-3	1-Butanol		1
75-57-0	Tetramethylammonium chloride		1
112926-00-8	Hydrated silica	no image	1
66455-14-9	Alcohols, C12-13, ethoxylated	no image	1
121888-68-4	Bentonite, benzyl(hydrogenated tallow alkyl) dimethylammonium stearate complex	no image	1
7789-38-0	Sodium bromate		1
7664-41-7	Ammonia		1
7681-82-5	Sodium iodide		1
125005-87-0	Diutan gum	no image	1
62649-23-4	Poly (acrylamide-co-acrylic acid), partial sodium salt	no image	1
1330-43-4	Sodium tetraborate (Na2B4O7)	no image	1
111-87-5	1-Octanol		1
71-23-8	1-Propanol		1
7775-27-1	Sodium persulfate		1
61789-71-7	Quaternary ammonium compounds, benzylcoco alkyldimethyl, chlorides	no image	1

The numbers in this post reflect a FracFocus data set downloaded in January 2025. For more up-to-date statistics, visit this link.

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Endnotes

1. Open-FF is a public service project, independent of FracFocus, that aims to foster better understanding of chemical uses of the fracking industry by organizing and analyzing chemical disclosures of FracFocus. To see company-specific information about Chesapeake Operating, Inc., visit this page.
2. The values that are omitted are in the “PercentHFJob” data field which represents the percentage (by mass) of the total fracking fluid. This number is usually less that 1% but because the mass of the total fluid is enormous – often greater that 100 million pounds – the actual mass of the chemical component can be quite large.
3. Title image credit: Becky Mansfield, modified by author
4. Chemical images credit: EPA Comptox