Hydraulic Fracking Research Paper

Hydraulic fracking is not only harmful to people but also toxic for the environment around the site. Extracting gasses deep in the earth's crust is not natural, neither is sucking 5-8 million gallons of water out of lakes. Eight million gallons might not seem like a lot because of how much the earth’s surface is covered in water, but there are over a million wells being fracked around the United States. Even if the fracking site is located in water deficient regions the companies will still pump out a large quantity of water from the local sources. For now, we have enough water for drinking and domestic use, but if the process doesn't stop or slow down we will affect the ecosystem. The composition of some fracking chemicals remains protected and disclosure through various "trade secret" exemptions under state or federal law, scientists analyzing fracked fluid have identified dangerous compounds to humans and the environment. For each frack, 70-300 tons of chemicals may be used, selected from a menu of up to 500 different chemicals. When the workers are down with the fracking mixture it is then stored on site in tanks and get reused until the fluid is be disposed of. When disposing of the flowback fluids, it's injected back into the ground deeper than the wellbore and left. In a recent report, USGS science for a changing world made stated “Wastewater disposal wells typically

If engineers fail to adhere to fracking protocol, then fracking may cause more harm than benefit. Natural gas cannot be collected perfectly from fractured rocks, some of the gas escapes at the mouth of the well. The methane will adversely effect the atmosphere and the environment. Methane can trap the heat from the impact the global temperatures. In addition to the risk of global warming, fracking could contaminate water supplies, which poses health risks. If the fracking liquids are not recollected after injection or extract the methane effectively, these pollutants can contaminate the

Fracking is a big part in today’s world and some people don’t like the idea of it, because it can be harmful to the earth. With fracking it has supplied the world with enough energy to continue for about 100 years. Natural gas has supplied the world since “the French explorers discovered it in 1626” (Brief history), 0but didn’t start fracking till the 19th century. With fracking being all around the country it offers great, good paying jobs. Natural gas from fracking is more affordable than other energy sources in abundant amounts. Chemicals used in fracking is said to contaminate earth’s water source if comes into contact and cannot be filtered clean. Natural gas has supplied energy to humanity since the 19th century, offers great since jobs

Public health issues do not have straightforward solutions, including fracking effects on children’s health. There are various challenges, including economic considerations (e.g., economic growth vs. the well-being of future generations) and what to do with residents near fracking sites. With regard to economic considerations, the focus in the United States has been on the access to natural resources, for example coal and natural gas (Mathews & Tan, 2014). Obtaining natural resources, like natural gas, is easier today because of the development of fracking technologies (Jain, 2015). Consequently, the US can become more energy independent, can decrease the money spent on foreign natural resources, and can provide low-cost natural resources

Not until recently, neither the federal nor state governments required drilling companies to disclose the ingredients used in frack fluids. Some states have begun to require that companies disclose the chemicals they use, but even some companies can withhold some chemical names under trade secret exemptions. As a result, a comprehensive list of chemicals used in the fracking process does not exist. Some states have begun to require that companies disclose the chemicals they use, but yet again confidential business information claims result in only partial disclosures. Corporations involved in fracking, like ExxonMobil have inserted loopholes in drilling legislation that allow them to keep various chemicals used in the fracking process secret. But just 2% of the billions of gallons of frack fluid created by gas drillers measures up to the use of hundreds of tons of toxic chemicals. “A 2011 report to Congress estimated that from 2005 to 2009, 14 leading fracking companies used (before mixing with water) 780 million gallons of 750 different chemicals”

Particularly, there is a concern about produced water (i.e., water that reaches the surface after fracking) because it contains various dangerous chemicals (e.g., radium) and it can mix with the ground water and surface water (US EPA, 2016). Furthermore, the air of fracking areas contains compounds that are carcinogens, and that cause respiratory and neurological problems (Carpenter, 2015). Fracking also affects certain people more; for example in Southern Texas, areas with high numbers of colored people and high levels of poverty were more likely to have disposal wells from fracking (Johnston, Werder, & Sebastian, 2016). Additionally, the laws are not on the people’s side; many laws have been passed in order to protect the oil and gas industry (Twomey et al., 2016). Ideally, the best solution would be to stop fracking all together in order to prevent any more detrimental events from happening. However, a more approachable solution would involve moving towards renewable energy. Renewal energy is a better alternative, because it will not damage the environment to such a great extent as fossil fuels (Cohen, 2015). Also, renewable energy is long-term energy solution in comparison to natural gas (Mathews & Tan, 2014). Eventually, natural gas will be depleted if it is utilized as a main energy source (Cohen,

Their local ecosystem is being destroyed in many ways. One controversial issue that fracking is responsible for is its immense use of water. For example, for every one barrel of oil that is recovered from fracking it leaves behind ten barrels of waste water (Stockton 3). After doing research, environmentalists have been concerned about potentially carcinogenic chemical’s ability to pollute groundwater (“What is Fracking…” 6). For example, rivers nearby become contaminated so animals can no longer drink out of it and you can’t swim in them. Another impact that fracking has on the local ecosystem is how it has been proven to cause earthquakes. In states specifically like Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas we see this happening. Faults in these areas have started to move for the first time in millions of years (Loki 6). Lawsuits against energy companies have even taken place. For example, Oklahoma experienced 5,838 earthquakes in 2015 compared to 167 earthquakes in 2009 as a consequence of fracking (“Lawsuit Seeks Damages…” 2). Undoubtedly, the environment is slowly being destroyed by fracking at our own

When it comes to providing for our human demands, people do not take into account the effects hydraulic fracking has on both the environment and economy. As a result, the government should take more action to regulate hydraulic fracking due to the harm done on the local economic level and negative effects on humans.

(4 States Confirm Water Pollution from Drilling). There have been many other states with the same reported problems and complaints only increase as more hydraulic fracturing wells are being dug. In many cases the water of residents become flammable when touched by a flame this is due to the chemicals that have leached out into the wells of peoples

There has not been an adequate amount of research into the long-term consequences that fracking will have. As of now the quality of the air in and around fracking sites is not monitored and the impact of the health of nearby residents and workers is unknown. There needs to be legislation put in place to force the fracking companies to provide a list of chemicals being used. Due to the lack of regulation the communities around fracking sites have no way of knowing the exact composition of the chemicals that are in use. If an accident were to happen at one of the fracking sites, emergency responders would be unprepared, there are different ways to deal with different

Fracking is a practice done by natural gas companies to obtain gas. The explanation of fracking in Hydraulic Fracturing: A Critical Physical Geography Review, is summarized as “Shale gas development combines two long-established but rapidly advancing technologies: hydraulic fracturing, in which millions of gallons of water treated with chemical additives and sand are injected into subsurface formations at high pressure to break up the rock so that trapped oil and gas can flow, and horizontal drilling, in which the well bore can be pivoted horizontally to follow the contours of oil and gas producing layers of rock. Together, these two technologies allow energy companies to exploit gas and oil formations that were previously uneconomical to tap, catalyzing both large upward revisions in oil and gas reserves estimates, and a dramatic shift in the geographical distribution of energy production in the US.” The controversial part of this process is where chemical additives and sand are injected into the ground, and because of this there are a very black white stance on the topic. Most of the rhetoric used is either pro or anti-fracking. The anti-fracking movement claims that this process is hurting the environment and contaminating water supplies around the United States. While the fracking movement sees it as a clean, new way to get natural gas from within the U.S. Like anything there is trade offs for doing it, on one side we needed natural gas to power the American people’s lifestyle and on the other we need to protect the environment because we do not yet know the effects of fracking. The narrative used on both sides are highly

‘So companies drill down, often a mile or more. They drill sideways through a shale layer that might be only a hundred or a couple hundred feet thick. And once they’ve drilled out sideways a mile or two, then they’ll pump water, sand, and chemicals underground at very high pressure to crack the rock and free the gas’ . Fracking fluid is mostly water, and each fracking job takes 2 to 4 million gallons of water per well. Once pumped underground, several million gallons flow back to the surface as wastewater. Massive water withdrawals from rivers and streams occur to achieve this process, thus resulting in a major ecological impact; ‘stream/river stress’. Another ecological hazard is habitat fragmentation stemming from the siting of oil well pads, pipelines and supporting infrastructure. Aside these toxic emissions to air, water and soil also affect the ecological domain. Potent greenhouse gas such as methane and particulate matter from compressors and flaring5 pose potential damage to the quality of air inhaled by the residents and community in

Water droughts are also a concern as many of the places where hydraulic fracturing is used have water drought and because of the huge amount of water used to recover natural gas and oil this can lead to increases in water droughts.There is concern about increased pollution to the water and air in those surrounding areas where fracking takes place. It is also known that there is an increased presence of toxins in the water supply in the areas surrounding. The toxins are released into the air and cause an increase in air pollution. 10-40 % of the fracking wastewater is comes back into the original drilling hole and this can cause long term consequences such as ground water supplies becoming

Fracking, a technique used to extract natural gas and oil from the earth 's subterranean rocks, is by no means a new thing. As the United States strives for energy independence, the number of wells produced by hydraulic fracturing has increased substantially. This method of harvesting natural gas and oil may contribute to pollution and has become a controversial topic. It is important to understand the pros and cons of fracking before drawing conclusions. Analyzing the economic and environmental effects of hydraulic fracking will show that fracking has economic benefits, while its environmental impact is no greater than that of other energy sources.

Hydraulic fracturing, or simply “fracking” is the process of drilling and injecting method for oil and gas companies. Accordingly, fluid is injected into the ground with a high pressure in order to fracture shale rocks to release natural gas inside. During this process, pressurized water, sand, and chemicals are used to open fissures in the ground, which caused the flow of oil and gas to the surface. The process is designed to improve productivity in gas reserves in the U.S. On the other hand, it creates radioactive wastewater, radon exposure, smog, chemical contamination of drinking water, air pollution, and earthquakes from wastewater injection in areas including a potential for danger from it in District 8: Navarro, Freestone, and the Hill Country that is designated as a