Biosurfactants and the Making of Dick Cheney

Catherine Tsal, writing for AP, reported today that an unnamed Halliburton Corporate Executive took a sip of their new fracking liquid when summoned to the podium by CEO Dave Lesar, during an industry meeting. The sip was supposed to prove that the liquid, to be used in enormous quantities in fracking to produce natural gas, was quite benign.
At Stevieslaw, we find ourselves less concerned with whether or not this test was meaningful than with the persistent rumor that Dick Cheney, upon assuming the mantle of Halliburton in 1995, took a sip of rhamnolipid—a specific biosurfactant used to enhance the recovery of oil from wells. We are not saying that Halliburton is using their fracking liquid to create yet another “Frankenstein” monster just on the basis of a long standing rumor, but we would like to know the name of the executive who took the sip and how many other Halliburton employees are using.
Experience suggests that when dealing with Halliburton, you and I cannot be too careful.