Why is that? My understanding is that fracking "recipes" are secret only because they're so boring. If it's just soap and sand and whatnot and you're making $50mm a year on it, you gotta keep the recipe a secret or else everyone will copy it and you're out of business.

Nop! They are secret because those involved don't want us to know the exact nature of the dangerous chemicals they're pumping into the environment.

And I don't even want to get into the associated earthquakes.