Hydraulic fracturing fluid is made up of different components. Two intergovernmental agencies, the Ground Water Protection Council and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, manage the website www.fracfocus.org, which provides information to the public about the fluids used in hydraulic fracturing. Financial assistance for the site was provided by the U.S. Department of Energy.

By Texas state law passed in the 2011 legislative session, every natural gas and crude oil well drilled and hydraulically fractured must post the volume of water, sand and chemical additives that are used. The information on the website includes:

• Well location by county and latitude/longitude. A user-friendly map permits a graphical interface.
• Vertical well depth.
• Date of the hydraulic fracturing.
• Volume of water used in the fracking process.
• A list of chemicals used, their purpose, the chemical’s ingredients, the maximum ingredient concentration (a percentage by mass) and the active ingredient concentration in the fracking liquid (a percentage by mass).

Companies are allowed to keep some materials undisclosed as proprietary or trade secrets, according to Texas Government Code Section 552.110; however, the exact components of all chemical additives are available on the drill site in the MSDS (material safety data sheets), which are available to first responders.