Summary: FracFocus disclosures that omit fundamental quantity information undermine the integrity of the fracking chemical data. Open-FF (1) found that the operator Slawson Exploration Company, Inc. published 232 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.
Slawson Exploration Company, Inc. omissions
We’ve found many such data omissions (2) in the disclosures of the operating company,ย Slawson Exploration Company, Inc.. As of this date, we’ve foundย 232ย disclosures with at least one omission, orย 49.9%ย of all of the company’s disclosures (example – Jan 20, 2017). 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. Slawson Exploration Company, Inc. is highlighted in orange. Clearly a small fraction of companies account for much of the lacking records and Slawson Exploration Company, Inc. is part of that club.
Which states?
These flawed disclosures are for fracking jobs in the following states.
| State | number of disclosures with omissions |
|---|---|
| North Dakota | 222 |
| Montana | 5 |
| Oklahoma | 3 |
| Texas | 2 |
Which chemicals?
The following table lists the materials for which quantity was omitted and how many records of Slawson Exploration Company, Inc. were affected.
| CASRN | Name | Molecular structure | Number of missing values |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50-00-0 | Formaldehyde |  | 14 |
| 67-56-1 | Methanol |  | 7 |
| 68953-58-2 | Quaternary ammonium compounds, bis(hydrogenated tallow alkyl)dimethyl, salts with bentonite | no image | 6 |
| 111-76-2 | 2-Butoxyethanol |  | 6 |
| 24938-91-8 | Polyoxyethylene tridecyl ether |  | 6 |
| 14808-60-7 | Quartz (SiO2) | no image | 6 |
| 127-08-2 | Potassium acetate |  | 3 |
| 64-19-7 | Acetic acid |  | 3 |
| 119345-04-9 | Benzene, 1,1′-oxybis-, tetrapropylene derivs., sulfonated, sodium salts | no image | 2 |
| 1303-86-2 | Boron oxide (B2O3) |  | 2 |
| 7757-82-6 | Sodium sulfate anhydrous |  | 2 |
| 108-32-7 | Propylene carbonate |  | 2 |
| 1330-43-4 | Sodium tetraborate (Na2B4O7) | no image | 2 |
| 64742-47-8 | Distillates (petroleum), hydrotreated light | no image | 1 |
| 7447-40-7 | Potassium chloride |  | 1 |
| 72283-36-4 | Oxirane, 2-methyl-, polymer with oxirane, mono-(9Z)-9-octadecenoate, methyl ether | no image | 1 |
| 71050-62-9 | 2-Propenoic acid, polymer with sodium phosphinate | no image | 1 |
| 68584-22-5 | (C10-C16) Alkylbenzenesulfonic acid |  | 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 |
| 9016-88-0 | 1,4-Benzenedicarboxylic acid, polymer with 1,2-ethanediol and .alpha.-hydro-.omega.-hydroxypoly(oxy-1,2-ethanediyl) | no image | 1 |
| 10043-52-4 | Calcium chloride |  | 1 |
| 56-81-5 | Glycerol |  | 1 |
| 557-04-0 | Magnesium stearate |  | 1 |
| 52-51-7 | Bronopol |  | 1 |
| 104-76-7 | 2-Ethyl-1-hexanol |  | 1 |
| 39322-78-6 | Potassium lauryl phosphate | no image | 1 |
| 34590-94-8 | Dipropylene glycol monomethyl ether |  | 1 |
| 112-80-1 | Oleic acid |  | 1 |
| 112-53-8 | 1-Dodecanol |  | 1 |
| 108-10-1 | 4-Methyl-2-pentanone |  | 1 |
| 9043-30-5 | Polyoxyethylene isotridecyl ether |  | 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-FFย 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 Slawson Exploration Company, Inc.,ย 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,ย visit this link.
- Title image credit: Becky Mansfield, modified by author
- Chemical images credit:ย EPA Comptox