Summary: FracFocus disclosures that omit fundamental quantity information undermine the integrity of the fracking chemical data. Open-FF (1) found that the operator Linn Energy, LLC published 240 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.
Linn Energy, LLC omissions
We’ve found many such data omissions (2) in the disclosures of the operating company, Linn Energy, LLC. As of this date, we’ve found 240 disclosures with at least one omission, or 39.3% 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. Linn Energy, LLC is highlighted in orange. Clearly a small fraction of companies account for much of the lacking records and Linn Energy, LLC is part of that club.
Which states?
These flawed disclosures are for fracking jobs in the following states.
| State | number of disclosures with omissions |
|---|---|
| Texas | 188 |
| Oklahoma | 52 |
Which chemicals?
The following table lists the materials for which quantity was omitted and how many records of Linn Energy, LLC were affected.
| CASRN | Name | Molecular structure | Number of missing values |
|---|---|---|---|
| 67-56-1 | Methanol |  | 185 |
| 7447-40-7 | Potassium chloride |  | 17 |
| 10043-52-4 | Calcium chloride |  | 16 |
| 67-63-0 | Isopropanol |  | 16 |
| 111-76-2 | 2-Butoxyethanol |  | 16 |
| 1310-58-3 | Potassium hydroxide |  | 15 |
| 56-81-5 | Glycerol |  | 14 |
| 14808-60-7 | Quartz (SiO2) | no image | 13 |
| 67-48-1 | 2-Hydroxy-N,N,N-trimethylethan-1-aminium chloride |  | 13 |
| 7727-54-0 | Diammonium peroxydisulfate |  | 12 |
| 71050-62-9 | 2-Propenoic acid, polymer with sodium phosphinate | no image | 12 |
| 1310-73-2 | Sodium hydroxide |  | 11 |
| 68953-58-2 | Quaternary ammonium compounds, bis(hydrogenated tallow alkyl)dimethyl, salts with bentonite | no image | 9 |
| 107-19-7 | Propargyl alcohol |  | 9 |
| 68439-51-0 | Alcohols, C12-14, ethoxylated propoxylated | no image | 7 |
| 64742-47-8 | Distillates (petroleum), hydrotreated light | no image | 7 |
| 68-12-2 | N,N-Dimethylformamide |  | 6 |
| 112-27-6 | Triethylene glycol |  | 6 |
| 94266-47-4 | Citrus extract | no image | 6 |
| 7664-38-2 | Phosphoric acid |  | 5 |
| 68131-72-6 | Polyphosphoric acids, esters with triethanolamine, sodium salts | no image | 5 |
| 2610-11-9 | C.I. Direct Red 81 disodium salt |  | 5 |
| 28205-96-1 | 2-Methyl-2-propenoic acid, polymer with 2-propenoic acid, sodium salt | no image | 5 |
| 64-19-7 | Acetic acid |  | 5 |
| 7647-01-0 | Hydrochloric acid |  | 5 |
| 100-97-0 | Methenamine |  | 5 |
| 81741-28-8 | Tributyltetradecylphosphonium chloride |  | 5 |
| 9000-30-0 | alpha-D-Galactopyrano-beta-D-mannopyranan | no image | 5 |
| 9016-45-9 | Nonylphenoxypolyethoxyethanol |  | 5 |
| 9043-30-5 | Polyoxyethylene isotridecyl ether |  | 5 |
| 77-92-9 | Citric acid |  | 4 |
| 84133-50-6 | Alcohols, C12-14-secondary, ethoxylated | no image | 4 |
| 9002-84-0 | Polytetrafluoroethylene |  | 4 |
| 50-00-0 | Formaldehyde |  | 4 |
| 9003-35-4 | Bakelite | no image | 4 |
| 91-20-3 | Naphthalene |  | 4 |
| 111-30-8 | Glutaraldehyde |  | 4 |
| 111-42-2 | Diethanolamine |  | 4 |
| 111-46-6 | Diethylene glycol |  | 4 |
| 60-24-2 | 2-Mercaptoethanol |  | 4 |
| 64742-94-5 | Solvent naphtha, petroleum, heavy arom. | no image | 4 |
| 10043-35-3 | Boric acid (H3BO3) |  | 4 |
| 25322-68-3 | Polyethylene glycol |  | 4 |
| 65-85-0 | Benzoic acid |  | 3 |
| 68002-97-1 | Ethoxylated C10-16 alcohols | no image | 3 |
| 64742-53-6 | Distillates, petroleum, hydrotreated light naphthenic | no image | 3 |
| 68139-30-0 | 1-Propanaminium, N-(3-aminopropyl)-2-hydroxy-N,N-dimethyl-3-sulfo-, N-coco acyl derivs., inner salts | no image | 3 |
| 7681-82-5 | Sodium iodide |  | 3 |
| 68439-45-2 | Alcohols, C6-12, ethoxylated | no image | 3 |
| 78330-20-8 | Alcohols, C9-11-iso-, C10-rich, ethoxylated | no image | 3 |
| 68439-46-3 | Alcohols, C9-11, ethoxylated | no image | 3 |
| 78330-19-5 | Alcohols, C7-9-iso-, C8-rich, ethoxylated | no image | 3 |
| 68603-42-9 | Amides, coco, N,N-bis(hydroxyethyl) | no image | 3 |
| 68607-28-3 | Quaternary ammonium compounds, (oxydi-2,1-ethanediyl)bis[coco alkyldimethyl, dichlorides | no image | 3 |
| 7783-18-8 | Ammonium thiosulfate |  | 3 |
| 7772-99-8 | Stannous chloride |  | 3 |
| 75-91-2 | tert-Butyl hydroperoxide |  | 3 |
| 7772-98-7 | Sodium thiosulfate |  | 3 |
| 7757-82-6 | Sodium sulfate anhydrous |  | 3 |
| 7727-37-9 | Nitrogen |  | 3 |
| 7631-86-9 | Silica |  | 3 |
| 64-18-6 | Formic acid |  | 3 |
| 124-38-9 | Carbon dioxide |  | 3 |
| 1302-93-8 | Mullite (Al6O5(SiO4)2) | no image | 3 |
| 1338-43-8 | Sorbitan, mono-(9Z)-9-octadecenoate |  | 3 |
| 141-43-5 | Ethanolamine |  | 3 |
| 1319-33-1 | Ulexite | no image | 3 |
| 104-76-7 | 2-Ethyl-1-hexanol |  | 3 |
| 12125-02-9 | Ammonium chloride |  | 3 |
| 14464-46-1 | Cristobalite | no image | 3 |
| 16887-00-6 | Chloride |  | 3 |
| 10222-01-2 | 2,2-Dibromo-3-nitrilopropionamide |  | 3 |
| 24938-91-8 | Polyoxyethylene tridecyl ether |  | 3 |
| 102-71-6 | Triethanolamine |  | 3 |
| 445411-73-4 | Gas oils, petroleum, vacuum, hydrocracked, hydroisomerized, hydrogenated, C10-25, branched and cyclic | no image | 3 |
| 10124-31-9 | Ammonium acid phosphate | no image | 3 |
| 55566-30-8 | Tetrakis(hydroxymethyl)phosphonium sulfate |  | 3 |
| 57-55-6 | 1,2-Propylene glycol |  | 3 |
| 584-08-7 | Potassium carbonate |  | 3 |
| 1302-76-7 | Kyanite (Al2O(SiO4)) | no image | 3 |
| 1302-74-5 | Corundum (Aluminum oxide) | no image | 3 |
| 63428-86-4 | Polyethylene glycol hexyl ether sulfate, ammonium salt | no image | 3 |
| 64-02-8 | Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid tetrasodium salt |  | 3 |
| 107-21-1 | Ethylene glycol |  | 2 |
| 1303-96-4 | Borax (B4Na2O7.10H2O) | no image | 2 |
| 1113-55-9 | 2-Bromo-3-nitrilopropionamide |  | 2 |
| 64-17-5 | Ethanol |  | 2 |
| 108-32-7 | Propylene carbonate |  | 2 |
| 64742-46-7 | Distillates (petroleum), hydrotreated middle | no image | 2 |
| 8001-79-4 | Castor oil | no image | 2 |
| 127-09-3 | Sodium acetate |  | 2 |
| 68424-85-1 | C12-16-Alkylbenzyldimethylammonium chlorides |  | 2 |
| 3252-43-5 | Dibromoacetonitrile |  | 2 |
| 8013-01-2 | Yeast extract | no image | 1 |
| 104-55-2 | 3-Phenylprop-2-enal |  | 1 |
| 110-17-8 | Fumaric acid |  | 1 |
| 10361-65-6 | Phosphoric acid, ammonium salt (1:3) |  | 1 |
| 9046-01-9 | Tridecyl alcohol, ethoxylated, phosphated | no image | 1 |
| 1004542-84-0 | Sodium bromosulfamate hydrate (1:1:x) | no image | 1 |
| 7758-99-8 | Copper(II) sulfate, pentahydrate |  | 1 |
| 104-40-5 | 4-Nonylphenol, branched |  | 1 |
| 7487-88-9 | Magnesium sulfate anhydrous |  | 1 |
| 127087-87-0 | Poly(oxy-1,2-ethanediyl),alpha-(4-nonylphenyl)-omega-hydroxy-,branched | no image | 1 |
| 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 | 1 |
| 64742-95-6 | Light aromatic solvent naphtha (petroleum) | no image | 1 |
| 631-61-8 | Ammonium acetate |  | 1 |
| 68-11-1 | Thioglycolic acid |  | 1 |
| 194041-65-1 | None |  | 1 |
| 68424-51-1 | Fatty acids, tall-oil, compds. with salicylic acid 2-(aminoiminomethyl)hydrazide | no image | 1 |
| 14452-57-4 | Magnesium peroxide (Mg(O2)) |  | 1 |
| 68439-57-6 | Sulfonic acids, C14-16-alkane hydroxy and C14-16-alkene, sodium salts | no image | 1 |
| 68527-49-1 | Thiourea, polymer with formaldehyde and 1-phenylethanone | no image | 1 |
| 7705-08-0 | Ferric chloride |  | 1 |
| 144-55-8 | Sodium bicarbonate |  | 1 |
| 1330-43-4 | Sodium tetraborate (Na2B4O7) | no image | 1 |
| 7173-51-5 | Didecyldimethylammonium chloride |  | 1 |
| 7446-19-7 | Zinc sulfate monohydrate |  | 1 |
| 1309-48-4 | Magnesium oxide |  | 1 |
| 1309-42-8 | Magnesium hydroxide |  | 1 |
| 7631-95-0 | Sodium molybdate (Na2MoO4) |  | 1 |
| 100-44-7 | Benzyl chloride |  | 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 Linn Energy, LLC, 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
One thought on “Linn Energy: Omissions of quantity data”