Fracking with Acid: Unknown Quantities Injected in Texas

Read about the history of oil drilling in Texas and you’ll find references to how wildcatters would pour barrels of hydrochloric acid into their wells. The acid would eat through underground rock formations and allow more oil to flow up the well. That was decades ago. While a lot has changed in the drilling industry since then, using acid has not. It’s only gotten bigger. And in Texas, no one seems to have any idea of just how much hydrochloric, acetic, or hydrofluoric acid is being pumped into the ground.

State Impact [Author: Dave Fehling]

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Historical Oil Well, New London TX (E. Goldberg, 2005)

Street Scene, East TX Oil Museum, Kilgore, TX (E. Goldberg, 2005)