Please leave this field empty
Donate Monthly Make a Gift Renew Your Membership Ways to Give
Food & Water Watch Food & Water Watch Food & Water Watch
  • About
  • Problems
  • Campaigns
  • Impacts
  • Research
  • Contact
Donate Monthly Make a Gift Renew Your Membership Ways to Give
  • facebook
  • twitter
Please leave this field empty
Food & Water Watch Food & Water Watch
$
Menu
  • About
  • News
  • Research Library
  • Contact
  • Careers
  • Donate
Search
Please leave this field empty
  • facebook
  • twitter

What Fracking Chemicals are Threatening Your Water? That’s a Secret

A new report shows widespread use of dangerous chemicals in Pennsylvania

  • facebook
  • twitter
  • google-plus
  • envelope

We all need safe food and clean water.

Donate
Fracking wastewater pit surrounded by barbed wire with a drilling rig in the background.
09.12.18

We already know enough about fracking to know that it is a threat to clean air, clean water and a livable climate. But a new report adds more to this disturbing body of knowledge—and at a time when key decision-makers can do something to rein in this destructive industry.

A new paper from the Partnership for Policy Integrity called “Keystone Secrets” attempts to catalogue the use of dangerous chemicals in the state of Pennsylvania. Based in part on an analysis of chemical disclosure information from FracTracker Alliance, the report documents over 13,000 uses of secret chemicals in 2,500 wells between 2013 and 2017--and that’s likely to be an undercount.

The fracking industry’s control of data, information and access to sites has long shaped what’s known about fracking’s impacts. Drilling companies use loopholes in the rules in Pennsylvania to withhold the identity of fracking chemicals as “trade secrets.” These are the chemicals in the liquids injected into the wells, done to fracture shale and release any oil and gas (and ancient brines) exposed to the well via the fractures. The chemical information is kept secret from the public and, in some cases, even from relevant regulatory agencies and first responders.

The report finds the heaviest use of secret fracking chemicals in Washington County and also in Susquehanna County, which is near the Delaware River basin.

The EPA has warned that some fracking chemicals pose serious health risks, and these health effects are well-documented. One study of Washington County residents with water wells near fracking wells show more frequent reports of upper respiratory problems. Other studies point to problems like low birth weight, fatigue, migraines, chronic nasal and sinus problems.

The considerable wastewater generated by fracking can spill en route to being treated or stored. It can also migrate into aquifers or to the surface, or be discharged into waterways. These risks are borne primarily by frontline communities that are forced to sacrifice their health for corporate profits. But fracking waste also poses risks to the millions of people who rely on the Delaware River basin for drinking water.

That threat is what is driving the battle over fracking rules pending for the Delaware River basin. The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) is currently considering rules that would finally ban fracking in the watershed. But there’s a catch: Those rules could potentially allow for the treatment, storage and dumping of fracking-related waste in the watershed. That would grant fracking and waste treatment companies the ability to store, treat, and dump unknown chemicals in one of the most important sources of clean drinking water in the region—and no one would know precisely what was being stored there, or whether the treatment facilities were equipped to handle such materials in the first place.

The only sensible response to this threat is a full and complete ban on all fracking-related activities in the Delaware River basin—and, for that matter, everywhere else. 

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version

Monsanto's Roundup is a "probable human carcinogen." We need to ban it!

Get the latest on your food and water with news, research and urgent actions.

Please leave this field empty

Latest News

  • Trump’s Out, Biden’s In! Now The Fight Of Our Lives On Climate Begins.

    Trump’s Out, Biden’s In! Now The Fight Of Our Lives On Climate Begins.

  • Biden’s 100-Day Must-Do List for a Cleaner, Healthier Country

    Biden’s 100-Day Must-Do List for a Cleaner, Healthier Country

  • Fracking, Federal Lands, And Follow-Through: Will President Biden Do What He Promised?

    Fracking, Federal Lands, And Follow-Through: Will President Biden Do What He Promised?

See More News & Opinions

For Media: See our latest press releases and statements

Food & Water Insights

Looking for more insights and our latest research?

Visit our policy & research library
  • Eversource’s Plan to Privatize New Hartford’s Water

  • The Urgent Case for a Moratorium on Mega-Dairies in New Mexico

  • Fracking, Power Plants and Exports: Three Steps for Meaningful Climate Action

Fracking activist with stickersFracking activist in hatLegal team loves family farmsFood & Water Watch organizer protecting your food

Work locally, make a difference.

Get active in your community.

Food & Water Impact

  • Victories
  • Stories
  • Facts
  • Trump, Here's a Better Use for $25 Billion

  • Here's How We're Going to Build the Clean Energy Revolution

  • How a California Activist Learned to Think Locally

Keep drinking water safe and affordable for everyone.

Take Action
food & water watch logo
en Español

Food & Water Watch mobilizes regular people to build political power to move bold & uncompromised solutions to the most pressing food, water, and climate problems of our time. We work to protect people’s health, communities, and democracy from the growing destructive power of the most powerful economic interests.

Food & Water Watch is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

Food & Water Action is a 501(c)4 organization.

Food & Water Watch Headquarters

1616 P Street, NW,
Washington, DC 20036

Main: 202.683.2500

Contact your regional office.

Work with us: See all job openings

  • Problems
    • Broken Democracy
    • Climate Change & Environment
    • Corporate Control of Food
    • Corporate Control of Water
    • Factory Farming & Food Safety
    • Fracking
    • GMOs
    • Global Trade
    • Pollution Trading
  • Solutions
    • Advocate Fair Policies
    • Legal Action
    • Organizing for Change
    • Research & Policy Analysis
  • Our Impact
    • Facts
    • Stories
    • Victories
  • Take Action
    • Get Active Where You Live
    • Organizing Tools
    • Find an Event
    • Volunteer with Us
    • Live Healthy
    • Donate
  • Give
    • Give Now
    • Give Monthly
    • Give a Gift Membership
    • Membership Options
    • Fundraise
    • Workplace Giving
    • Planned Giving
    • Other Ways to Give
  • About
  • News
  • Research Library
  • Contact
  • Careers
  • Donate
Learn more about Food & Water Action www.foodandwateraction.org.
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • 2021 © Food & Water Watch
  • www.foodandwaterwatch.org
  • Terms of Service
  • Data Usage Policy