Summary: FracFocus disclosures that omit fundamental quantity information undermine the integrity of the fracking chemical data. Open-FF (1) found that the operator Encana Oil & Gas published 330 disclosures with quantity data missing for at least some records. 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.
Encana Oil & Gas omissions
We’ve found many such data omissions (2) in the disclosures of the operating company, Encana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc.. As of this date, we’ve found 330 disclosures with at least one omission, or 18.5% of all of the company’s disclosures (example). The following chart shows when those fracking jobs occurred and how many records were missing data.
Compared to other companies
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. Encana Oil & Gas is highlighted in orange. Although Encana flawed disclosure rate is not above the 25% line, it’s total number of records without quantity is among the largest. Clearly a small fraction of companies account for much of the lacking records and Encana Oil & Gas is part of that club.
Which states?
These flawed disclosures are for fracking jobs in the following states.
| State | number of disclosures with omissions |
|---|---|
| Colorado | 217 |
| Texas | 83 |
| New Mexico | 11 |
| Mississippi | 11 |
| Louisiana | 8 |
Which chemicals?
The following table lists the materials for which quantity was omitted and how many records of Encana Oil & Gas were affected.
| CASRN | Name | Molecular structure | Number of missing values |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1338-43-8 | Sorbitan, mono-(9Z)-9-octadecenoate |  | 216 |
| 66455-15-0 | Alcohols, C10-14, ethoxylated | no image | 214 |
| 64742-47-8 | Distillates (petroleum), hydrotreated light | no image | 214 |
| 25987-30-8 | 2-Propenoic acid, polymer with 2-propenamide, sodium salt | no image | 214 |
| 127-09-3 | Sodium acetate |  | 214 |
| 50-00-0 | Formaldehyde |  | 48 |
| 1310-73-2 | Sodium hydroxide |  | 28 |
| 79-06-1 | Acrylamide |  | 18 |
| 127-08-2 | Potassium acetate |  | 17 |
| 7631-86-9 | Silica |  | 15 |
| 64-19-7 | Acetic acid |  | 13 |
| 7647-01-0 | Hydrochloric acid |  | 9 |
| 98-86-2 | Acetophenone |  | 9 |
| 10604-69-0 | Ammonium acrylate |  | 9 |
| 9043-30-5 | Polyoxyethylene isotridecyl ether |  | 8 |
| 61791-26-2 | PEG-10 Hydrogenated tallow amine | no image | 8 |
| 61789-40-0 | Cocamidopropyl betaine | no image | 8 |
| 108-32-7 | Propylene carbonate |  | 8 |
| 9005-65-6 | Polysorbate 80 | no image | 7 |
| 14808-60-7 | Quartz (SiO2) | no image | 6 |
| 52-51-7 | Bronopol |  | 6 |
| 2634-33-5 | 1,2-Benzisothiazolin-3-one |  | 6 |
| 533-74-4 | Dazomet |  | 5 |
| 68308-89-4 | Fatty acids, C18-unsatd., dimers, ethoxylated propoxylated | no image | 5 |
| 75-21-8 | Ethylene oxide |  | 5 |
| 7632-00-0 | Sodium nitrite |  | 5 |
| 36089-45-9 | 2-Propenoic acid, 2-ethylhexyl ester, polymer with 2-hydroxyethyl 2-propenoate | no image | 5 |
| 68937-55-3 | Siloxanes and Silicones, di-Me, 3-hydroxypropyl Me, ethoxylated propoxylated | no image | 5 |
| 9004-32-4 | Edifas B | no image | 5 |
| 112-53-8 | 1-Dodecanol |  | 5 |
| 39322-78-6 | Potassium lauryl phosphate | no image | 4 |
| 24937-78-8 | Vinyl acetate ethylene copolymer | no image | 4 |
| 9016-88-0 | 1,4-Benzenedicarboxylic acid, polymer with 1,2-ethanediol and .alpha.-hydro-.omega.-hydroxypoly(oxy-1,2-ethanediyl) | no image | 4 |
| 112-88-9 | 1-Octadecene |  | 4 |
| 72283-36-4 | Oxirane, 2-methyl-, polymer with oxirane, mono-(9Z)-9-octadecenoate, methyl ether | no image | 3 |
| 68551-12-2 | Alcohols, C12-16, ethoxylated | no image | 3 |
| 1319-33-1 | Ulexite | no image | 3 |
| 107-21-1 | Ethylene glycol |  | 3 |
| 68002-97-1 | Ethoxylated C10-16 alcohols | no image | 2 |
| 112-80-1 | Oleic acid |  | 2 |
| 128973-77-3 | Undecanol, branched and linear | no image | 2 |
| 123-91-1 | 1,4-Dioxane |  | 2 |
| 6410-41-9 | C.I. Pigment Red 5 |  | 2 |
| 107-19-7 | Propargyl alcohol |  | 2 |
| 64-17-5 | Ethanol |  | 2 |
| 631-61-8 | Ammonium acetate |  | 2 |
| 68953-58-2 | Quaternary ammonium compounds, bis(hydrogenated tallow alkyl)dimethyl, salts with bentonite | no image | 2 |
| 629-73-2 | 1-Hexadecene |  | 2 |
| 14807-96-6 | Talc | no image | 2 |
| 11138-66-2 | Corn sugar gum | no image | 2 |
| 75-56-9 | (+/-)-1,2-Propylene oxide |  | 2 |
| 56-81-5 | Glycerol |  | 2 |
| 1338-41-6 | Anhydrosorbitol stearate | no image | 2 |
| 12125-02-9 | Ammonium chloride |  | 2 |
| 9000-30-0 | alpha-D-Galactopyrano-beta-D-mannopyranan | no image | 2 |
| 143-18-0 | Potassium oleate |  | 2 |
| 9002-84-0 | Polytetrafluoroethylene |  | 1 |
| 75-09-2 | Dichloromethane |  | 1 |
| 75-57-0 | Tetramethylammonium chloride |  | 1 |
| 7681-52-9 | Sodium hypochlorite |  | 1 |
| 7757-82-6 | Sodium sulfate anhydrous |  | 1 |
| 71050-62-9 | 2-Propenoic acid, polymer with sodium phosphinate | no image | 1 |
| 68956-56-9 | Hydrocarbons, terpene processing by-products | no image | 1 |
| 84133-50-6 | Alcohols, C12-14-secondary, ethoxylated | no image | 1 |
| 75-50-3 | Trimethylamine |  | 1 |
| 100-44-7 | Benzyl chloride |  | 1 |
| 68439-50-9 | Alcohols, C12-14, ethoxylated | no image | 1 |
| 68439-46-3 | Alcohols, C9-11, ethoxylated | no image | 1 |
| 104-55-2 | 3-Phenylprop-2-enal |  | 1 |
| 110-30-5 | N,N’-Ethylene distearylamide |  | 1 |
| 110224-99-2 | 2-Propenoic acid, telomer with sodium 2-methyl-2-[(1-oxo-2-propen-1-yl)amino]-1-propanesulfonate (1:1) and sodium phosphinite (1:1) | no image | 1 |
| 111-30-8 | Glutaraldehyde |  | 1 |
| 127087-87-0 | Poly(oxy-1,2-ethanediyl),alpha-(4-nonylphenyl)-omega-hydroxy-,branched | no image | 1 |
| 13446-12-3 | Ammonium hydrogen phosphonate |  | 1 |
| 144-55-8 | Sodium bicarbonate |  | 1 |
| 3327-22-8 | (3-Chloro-2-hydroxypropyl)trimethylammonium chloride |  | 1 |
| 34004-36-9 | (2,3-dihydroxypropyl)trimethylammonium chloride |  | 1 |
| 4080-31-3 | N-(3-Chloroallyl)hexaminium chloride |  | 1 |
| 540-72-7 | Sodium thiocyanate |  | 1 |
| 542-75-6 | 1,3-Dichloropropene |  | 1 |
| 557-04-0 | Magnesium stearate |  | 1 |
| 57-55-6 | 1,2-Propylene glycol |  | 1 |
| 100-97-0 | Methenamine |  | 1 |
| 61723-83-9 | Polyoxyethylene sorbitol tetraoleate | no image | 1 |
| 61791-29-5 | Fatty acids, coco, ethoxylated | no image | 1 |
| 62649-23-4 | Poly (acrylamide-co-acrylic acid), partial sodium salt | no image | 1 |
| 67762-90-7 | Siloxanes and Silicones, di-Me, reaction products with silica | no image | 1 |
| 68155-20-4 | Tall-oil fatty acid DEA | no image | 1 |
| 68410-62-8 | Ethoxylated naphthenic acids | no image | 1 |
| 593-81-7 | Trimethylamine hydrochloride |  | 1 |
The numbers in this post reflect a FracFocus data set downloaded in January 2025. For more up-to-date statistics, visit this link.
Endnotes
- 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 Encana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc., visit this page.
- 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.
- The numbers in this post reflect a FracFocus data set downloaded in January 2025. For more up-to-date statistics, visit this link.
- Title image credit: Becky Mansfield, modified by author
- Chemical images credit: EPA Comptox
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