The Effects Of Hydraulic Fracturing On The Environment

In 2005, Bush/Cheney Energy Bill exempted natural gas drilling from the Safe Drinking Water Act. It exempts companies from disclosing the chemicals used during hydraulic fracturing. Essentially, it eliminated the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for oversight and regulation.

Hydraulic fracturing is the propagation of fractures in a rock layer caused by the presence of a pressurized fluid. (wiki 2011). This occurs naturally in nature, but the Hydraulic fracturing that I will speak of in this paper is a process being used by gas companies nationwide. Fracking is currently regulated by the EPA under the clean water act of 2005 (EPA.gov). However, this only partially governs the methods of injecting fluids and the retrieval of such fluids into the earth. It does not govern the types of chemicals that

Hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking, is the process of removing oil and natural gas from in between layers of shale and other low-permeability rocks. This is done by drilling both a well and a horizontal tunnel. Sand and chemicals are shot through the tunnel with incredible pressure, which cracks the shale allowing the oil and natural gas to travel up the well (Jackson, 2014). Fracking has caused a breadth of controversy due to the economic benefits and the geological consequences.

Hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, is a process the the oil and gas industry uses to extract natural gas and oil from shale rock formations buried deep within the Earth. Fracking is done in order to recover oil and natural gas from formations and areas that scientists didn’t think were possible to produce. It is also used for the extraction of oil and natural gas from older wells in more mature oil and natural gas fields. Many people don’t know about the many harmful effects to people and the environment because of fracking. Hydraulic fracturing is harmful to the environment and people because it contaminates drinking water, pollutes the air, and threatens the climate.

Hydraulic fracturing pumps a cocktail of water and chemicals into the ground. The pressure fractures shale rock, which releases oil, natural gas and wastewater back to the surface. This wastewater is stored temporarily in storage containers, before typically being deposited back underground in sealed storage wells.

Hydraulic fracturing is a public policy that devises the query of whether the economics of the process justifies the risks because it boosts jobs based on inexpensive industrial inputs, but at the same time, is at the center of several controversies concerning environmental law, economic growth, and public health. Hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, is a process to release natural gas and oil from the ground. The contemporary period of fracking correlates to the progressive era conservation movement during 1890-1960 because both reveal the idea that humans have dominion or control over the environment. According to the progressive era, humans must plan their use of fracking to make sure it maximizes wealth and preserves the environment in the future. The debate between the advocates and the opponents argue if economics prevail over the risks involved in fracking. Nonetheless, the negative influences on

According to an article in The New York Times, hydraulic fracturing is best described as the technique used to drill down into the earth using a high pressure water mixture to fracture the rocks and extract the natural gas and oil. Approximately one million wells have been fracked since the 1940’s, most of these are vertical wells that drill into porous sandstone or limestone. New technology has allowed for horizontal drilling to capture gas from shale rock. Water, sand and other chemicals are injected into the rock at a high pressure to create the fractures that release the gas. The chemicals added to the water dissolve minerals, kill bacteria that may plug up the well and

Hydraulic fracturing is either referred to as “fracking” or “hydrofracking.” It is a generally new technique for oil and gas extraction. Basically for shale gas and tight oil, including cracking of rock by a pressurized fluid. Even penetrating takes into account the infusion of very pressurized fracking liquids into shale rock layers profound inside the earth. After a well is drilled, it is cased with bond trying to guarantee groundwater security and the shale is using pressurized water broke with water, chemicals, sand and other fracking liquids. This makes new channels inside the stone from which natural gas is removed at higher than customary rates.

There is widespread agreement among most experts that the current energy sources we use in the United States today are in need of a change. How we rely on the fossil fuels of coal and oil is a concern for two main issues: which is the negative impact on the environment and how the U.S. relies on other countries for supplies. This too has created issues on the political standpoint of the situation. This is where hydraulic fracturing comes in to play. Hydraulic Fracturing is a horizontal drilling process by the energy industry that has presented the means to solve both problems. This technology has provided the U.S. access to 100 years’ worth of energy. Natural gas has been located within the country’s borders and thousands of feet below

“Our country will have drilled and fracked our way down a blind alley for a short lived energy boom” (qtd. In …). Hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, is the process of drilling and injecting fluid into the ground at high pressure in order to fracture shale rocks to release natural gases inside. Many people are referring to fracking as an energy revolution that will last America at least 100 years. What they don’t know is that at the rate we are going, it wont last us 40, and the effects that it has on the environment will make earth’s lifespan shorter too. We need to stop hydraulic fracturing because it is wasteful, harms water reservoirs, and is hazardous to people and the environment.

The phrase, hydraulic fracturing, can elicit many different responses from people. Some people may think of it as an efficient, effective, and great method to retrieve natural gas from shale beds. Others may think of it as an environmentally dangerous and harmful method of capturing natural gas under the surface of our Earth. Either way, hydraulic fracturing is one of the main methods used to retrieve natural gas from under ground. The farther along technology comes, the more advanced the techniques and practices become for this method. There are many alternatives for environmentally friendly hydrofracking. Behind hydrofracking, there are many key details, pros and cons behind this controversial technique and new and more advanced environmentally friendly techniques.

In the face of growing concerns, the government did attempt to address citizens’ concerns by proposing the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act which would repeal the Safe Drinking Water Act and require that all chemical constituents of fracking fluids

Hydraulic Fracturing has a large percent of the people concerned due to risks of hydro fracturing which include contamination of groundwater, methane pollution and its impact on climate change, air pollution impacts, exposure to toxic chemicals, blowouts due to gas explosion, waste disposal, large volume water use in water-deficient regions, fracking-induced earthquakes, workplace safety, and infrastructure degradation. In order to be able to hydrofrack a specific area of construction, it requires an average of 400 tanker trucks to carry water and supplies to and from the site. A number of other air contaminants are released through the various drilling procedures, including construction and operation of the well site. Chemicals are used in drilling mud and fluids for the fracking process.

Imagine a hot summer day with a brother and sister playing in their backyard, ages three and five respectively. They want to cool off, so they turn on the hose, and, as they have done countless times, the sister partially blocks the water flow so her brother can toddle through the spray. However, today she notices a strange odor permeating from the spigot. She doesn’t think anything of it until the smell worsens, at which time she promptly tells her mother. Horrified, her mother rushes to scoop up her son to go wash him in their bath tub. When she turns on the tap to draw the water, she again smells the odor. Distraught, the mother towel dries her child in a final attempt to spare his skin, but does not know what else to do.

pg. 1) “In a July 19 letter to ten oil and gas producers – including BP, Chesapeake Energy, and ExxonMobil – the lawmakers requested information on the companies’ hydraulic fracturing operations and on possible human impacts. According to a subcommittee staff memo, the hydraulic fracturing companies ‘do not track whether the wells they fracture are located in underground sources of drinking water (Hobson Penn.).”