When hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) energy exploration brought a new wave of energy exploration activity to the Barnett Shale formation near Fort Worth, local firm Ashley Automation & Technology Inc. began to capture new business opportunities in oil and gas facility construction.

Their work with salt water disposal (SWD) facilities gave Ashley Automation insight into a little-known fact about fracking: the tanks used to store the waste saltwater that comes from fracking wells attract lightning. In fact, in the oil and gas industry, it is not unheard of for SWDs to suffer lightning damage – or burn down completely – because of a lightning strike.