News release: “Despite a federal ban on the use of diesel fuel in hydraulic fracturing without a permit, several oil and gas companies are exploiting a Safe Drinking Water Act loophole pushed through by Halliburton to frack with petroleum-based products containing even more dangerous toxic chemicals than diesel. For example, a drilling company in West Texas injected up to 48,000 gallons of benzene (a carcinogen) into the ground just last month. The report by the Environmental Integrity Project, Fracking’s Toxic Loophole, describes how a gap in the Safe Drinking Water Act – nicknamed the “Halliburton Loophole” – requires permits for fracking with diesel fuel, but allows companies to inject other petroleum products even more toxic than diesel without any permitting requirements or safeguards for underground water supplies…Fracking with fluids containing benzene (a carcinogen), ethylbenzene (a probable carcinogen), and other highly toxic chemicals is a potential threat to drinking water supplies and public health, but it appears to be common, according to the Environmental Integrity Project’s review of product descriptions available online and company disclosures to an industry-sponsored database of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, called “FracFocus.” At least six fracking fluid additives on the market today contain more benzene (a carcinogen) than diesel fuel. And at least 21 fluids sold by Halliburton and other companies contain much higher concentrations of ethylbenzene (a probable carcinogen) than benzene, according to industry product descriptions available online. These fracking fluid additives also contained very high levels of xylene and toluene, which can cause neurological problems and other health effects.”