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But questions emerged about the report — as well as criticism —
almost immediately. In July, a watchdog group called the Public
Accountability Initiative revealed that not only was the report’s evidence
for lack of a pollution link seriously flawed, but that Grout had failed to
disclose his ties to a major fracking company. It was learned that the Texas
professor had been paid an estimated $1,5 million in cash and stock as a
director of Plains Exploration and Production Company, a major drilling
firm. The group noted that Groat’s 2011 compensation of $400,000 was
double what he had received from the university — yet Groat’s industry
ties were not disclosed in the report, nor were they known to his boss at
the school’s Energy Institute.
In August, the University of Texas commissioned an independent
three-member panel to review both Groat’s paper and the circumstances
behind it. Its report was issued late last week, and it is a scathing
indictment of what some critics called “Frackademia” — growing
conflicts of interest with industry-backed or tainted research — and of
Groat’s ethical conflicts in this instance. In addition to blasting the
professor’s failure to disclose his industry ties, the independent analysis
outlines a number of fundamental flaws in the research, including:
1 Because of “inadequacy” in conflict of interest policies
at UT at the time, “conflict of interest and disclosure
policies were largely ignored.”
2 The report itself was presented as having scientific
findings, but much of it was in fact “based on literature
surveys, incident reports and conjecture.” The review
goes so far as to say that “the term ‘fact-based’ would
not apply to such an analysis” and it lacked a
“rigorous, independent review” of its findings.
3 The summary of the study, which was widely
distributed and trumpeted by a UT press release, failed
to include many of the caveats within the actual report.
Some of the conclusions were “tentative,” the review
says, and the press release and presentation of the report
at a scientific conference in February was