Fracking  Fluid  Con/nuing  to  Put  Toxins  In  Earth  

A  report  by  Chemistry  World  was  just  published,  no/ng  that  at  least  

10  percent  of  the  contents  in  fracking  fluid  is  toxic.  

Another  third  of  all  the  fluid  is  unaccounted  for,  meaning  we  have  absolutely  no  idea  what  it  contains.  

The  report,  which  includes  the  analysis  of  William  Stringfellow  of  

Lawrence  Berkley  Na/onal  Laboratory,  was  provided  by  the  

fracking  industry  itself.  

Stringfellow  used  FracFocus’  voluntary  registry,  which  includes  

250  fracking  chemicals,  and  measures  them  against  exis/ng  

toxicology  informa/on.  

Of  those  250  chemicals,  approximately  10  percent  are  hazardous  –  meaning  that  25  different  chemicals  are  being  pumped  into  the  earth  that  are  

toxic.  

The  real  issue  isn’t  that  these  chemicals  are  just  going  into  the  earth  –  they’re  also  pollu/ng  the  

ground  water.  

Not  only  is  this  dangerous  for  humans  and  animals  to  drink  but  it  can  also  kill  plants  absorbing  that  

water.  

Hydraulic  fracking  works  in  a  very  simple  fashion;  inject  fluid  into  the  earth  at  a  high  pressure,  causing  the  water  to  break  up  rock  forma/ons.  

These  forma/ons  contain  oil  and  gas  inside  them;  these  fossil  fuels  are  

extracted  and  stored.  

The  fluid,  however,  is  not  simply  water.  

The  industry  has  been  keeping  the  ingredients  in  fracking  fluid  a  secret.  

FracFocus  has  come  under  scru/ny  recently  due  to  news  that  it  is  

injec/ng  diesel  fuel  into  the  earth.  

Technically,  this  is  legal  as  long  as  FracFocus  has  a  permit.  

As  a  result  of  this  breaking  news,  the  media  (and  ci/zens  in  the  

surrounding  areas)  have  placed  more  and  more  pressure  on  fracking  organiza/ons  to  reveal  what  exactly  

is  inside  their  fracking  fluid.  

Schlumberger  and  Baker  Hughes,  two  large  fracking  companies,  have  decided  to  release  their  formulas;  others  are  expected  to  follow  in  

their  footsteps.  

Stringfellow  said  that  the  industry  is  currently  trying  to  replace  toxic  the  dangerous  chemicals  with  non-­‐

toxics,  then  they  will  release  their  fracking  fluid  formulas.  

Congress  passed  a  law  back  in  1986  to  set  up  the  EPA’s  Toxics  Release  

Inventory.  

This  database  is  accessible  to  the  public  and  outlines  the  toxics  that  various  industries  use  in  their  

prac/ces.  

The  EPA,  however,  decides  which  industries  are  required  to  report  to  the  database;  for  some  reason,  it  has  decided  that  it  is  voluntary  for  

the  gas  and  oil  industry  to  par/cipate.  

There  has  been  a  push  recently  for  oil  and  gas  extrac/on  companies  to  

be  required  to  disclose  this  informa/on.