FracFocus Trade Secrets in Arkansas

Summary: Trade secrets in FracFocus, an instrument of transparency, explicitly conceal the identity of chemicals. This masking has long been controversial. Open-FF found 4,450 trade secrets in Arkansas records. These records spanned all years and 74.2% of published disclosures. About 4,920,000 pounds of trade secret chemicals have been reported. In this post, we summarize the broad patterns of trade secret use in Arkansas between 2014 and early 2025. We also illustrate the types of trade secrets patterns in the state with local examples. This post is part of a series reporting on “holes” in FracFocus.¹

FracFocus is a public online database that provides information about the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) across the United States. While intended to promote transparency, a significant portion of the disclosed chemical information is often withheld as “trade secrets.” This practice has been the subject of debate of how to balance industry’s need to protect proprietary formulas with the public’s right to know about substances injected underground.

We note that data in FracFocus for Arkansas is extensive between 2011 and 2016 and stops by 2019. The patterns below reflect that date range.

Broad Patterns in Arkansas

Quantity of chemicals masked as trade secrets:

4,920,000 pounds

Frequency of Claims: How common are trade secret claims in Arkansas?

Across all valid Arkansas chemical records, 14.1% are marked as trade secrets. Trade secret claims appear in 74.2 % of all disclosures.

And the breakdown of the frequency of trade secrets within Arkansas disclosures is: 

Compared to Other States: How does the trade secret use in Arkansas compare to other fracking states?

Arkansas is ranked 5th lowest for the percent of disclosures with trade secrets.

---

Examples of Trade Secret Use in Arkansas

We summarize specific examples to highlight the various ways the trade secret designation is applied. Here are some typical scenarios we observed:

Large Percentage of Records as Trade Secrets

In some disclosures, a substantial proportion, sometimes even the majority, of the listed ingredients are marked as trade secrets. This leaves the public with very little information about the chemical composition of the fracturing fluid used in that specific well.

Example: Consider the well operated by Southwestern Energy in Cleburne County. (Click on images to open map and disclosure.)

In this disclosure, 45% of ingredients are listed as trade secrets. The list of trade secrets for that fracking job are:

TradeName	IngredientName	CASNumber	mass (pounds)
DAP-901	organic phosphonate	Proprietary	2,860
DAP-901	amine salt	Proprietary	474
DAP-901	phosphoric acid ammonium salt	Proprietary	474
DAP-901	oxyalkylated polyamine	Proprietary	474
DAP-925	fatty acids	Proprietary	40
DAP-925	polyoxyalkylenes	Proprietary	40
DAP-925	olefin	Proprietary	6
DWP-901	organic phosphonate	Proprietary	0.552
DWP-901	oxyalkylated polyamine	Proprietary	0.092
DWP-901	amine salt	Proprietary	0.092
DWP-901	phosphoric acid ammonium salt	Proprietary	0.092

Individual Trade Secret Records That Are High Mass

Occasionally, a single ingredient marked as a trade secret represents a significant mass or percentage of the total fluid volume reported in a disclosure. This means a large component of the fracturing fluid’s composition is entirely unknown.

Example: Consider the well operated by XTO Energy/ExxonMobil in Faulkner County.

In this well, a single trade secret entry is reported with a mass of 47,600 pounds, representing a significant portion of the total fluid volume. The chemical identity of this large-mass material is withheld.

Arkansas has 0 trade secret records with masses over 100,000 pounds.

Systems Approach Disclosures with Trade Secret Records

FracFocus disclosures are often published in the “systems approach” format that decouples product names from chemical identity. FracFocus claims that this practice “decreases the use of trade secrets in disclosures, thereby improving public transparency.” Analyses by Trickey et al. and Underhill et al. disprove that claim across the FracFocus data. Instead, we often find system approach disclosures with multiple trade secret claims – because there is nothing to compel companies to include the chemical identity.

Example: Consider the well operated by Southwestern Energy in White County.

The disclosure for that well utilizes a systems approach format but still conceals the identity of 9 chemicals, which means 32% of ingredients are listed as trade secrets. The table below lists those records with their quantity.

IngredientName	CASNumber	mass (pounds)
phosphonate of a diamine, sodium salt	Proprietary	6,320
ethoxylated fatty acid	Proprietary	1,650
ethoxylated nonylphenol	Proprietary	1,650
polyacrylate	Proprietary	1,540
ethoxylated fatty acid ester	Proprietary	330
amide	Proprietary	128
fatty acids, tall oil	Proprietary	107
ethoxylated alcohols	Proprietary	107
olefins	Proprietary	44

Implications for Arkansas

The patterns and examples of trade secret usage in Arkansas’s FracFocus data highlight the limitations of the database in providing
chemical transparency. While trade secret protection is a legal right when formalized, its extensive use in fracking disclosures raises questions for regulators, researchers, and the public regarding potential environmental and health impacts. Understanding how and where trade secrets are used is a crucial step in evaluating the effectiveness of public disclosure requirements in the state.

Colorado’s recent law requiring enhanced disclosure in a way that still protects intellectual property may serve as a model to improve overall transparency.

References

Trickey, Kevin, Nicholas Hadjimichael, and Prachi Sanghavi. “Public Reporting of Hydraulic Fracturing Chemicals in the USA, 2011–18: A before and after Comparison of Reporting Formats.” The Lancet Planetary Health 4, no. 5 (May 1, 2020): e178–85. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(20)30076-0.

Underhill, Vivian, Gary Allison, Holden Huntzinger, Cole Mason, Abigail Noreck, Emi Suyama, Lourdes Vera, and Sara Wylie. “Increases in Trade Secret Designations in Hydraulic Fracturing Fluids and Their Potential Implications for Environmental Health and Water Quality.” Journal of Environmental Management 351 (February 1, 2024): 119611. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119611.

---

Title image credit: Becky Mansfield (modified by author)

1. Map images ©OpenStreetMap; Disclosure tables screenshot from FracFocus PDFs. ↩︎