The need to reduce the environmental risk from shale-oil drilling is boosting the allure of Heckmann Corp. and Poseidon Concepts Corp. as takeover targets.
Local and federal regulators are raising questions about pollution after demand for so-called hydraulic fracturing, which involves pumping millions of gallons of water mixed with sand and chemicals into shale rock to unlock oil and gas, tripled in the past five years. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in a report last week it found evidence of chemicals used in the process in a drinking-water aquifer in Wyoming.
