What Is Hydraulic Fracturing?

Hydraulic fracking isn 't all good though, there are many controversial things about it. First off, water contamination is a hazard. There are many ways that the water supply could be contaminated by fracking. One way is by groundwater entering through cracks that fracking has made. The water solution that 's pumped into the ground is a mixture of water, sand, and chemicals. Water and sand make up 98% of the mixture, while the remaining 2% is chemicals. Although fracking companies have never realised the chemicals used, scientists studying wastewater have found many harmful additives. A few of these are benzene, toluene, and many acids, all of which pose huge threats to humans. For each fracking well, more than 8 million liters of

“Fracking is the process of obtaining Natural Gas from below Earth’s surface by drilling 1000’s of feet into the earth before a high-pressure water mixture is directed at the rock to release the gas inside.” Water, sand and chemicals are injected into the rock at high pressure which allows the gas to flow out to the head of the well.” (Jackson). Hydraulic Fracturing got its name due to the fact of how the rock is fractured apart by the high pressure mixture of a number of chemicals, sand, and water. Drilling companies first began Fracking in the early 1940’s, and starting in the 1990’s companies began “safer drilling” due to the amount of concerns that had arisen because early drillers had to detonate small explosions that eventually ended up killing many people. Fracking has been used for nearly 60 years and the number of concerns about it are rising every day. Due to the new technological advancements in drilling Fracking has changed greatly over the years. Before, the drilling would go on for weeks on end in order to extract only a small amount of natural gas. Now, due to the invention of higher powered drills, the drills get double the amount then they used to be able to get in more then half the time. Over 95,000 square miles of shale deposits have been found around the Appalachian Basin but the only way to reach these deposits of shale is through fracking. “Fracking is a technique designed to recover gas and oil from shale rock by drilling

Hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” is an oil and gas drilling process that is used to extract oil and natural gas from deep underground. Fracking is the cheapest route for oil and gas companies to make billions of dollars. The majority of the time the cheapest way is not always the best way of doing things. Hydraulic fracturing is not a good thing just because it makes money for--at times--everyone involved, as it causes our air and water to be polluted. There should be more regulations and laws to prevent contamination and protect our air and water from fracking pollution.

Hydraulic Fracturing, also known as fracking, is directly linked to having effects on the environment and the overall public health. The debate on whether or not fracking is too harsh on the environment has been going on ever since the United States has increased its use of this process to obtain more natural resources. Hydraulic fracturing is also directly correlated to having effects on drinking water. The process of fracking includes the injection of water containing other chemicals into the ground to extract natural resources that would otherwise be more difficult to obtain (Hydraulic Fracturing Overview, 2012). Although the process of fracking has resulted in an increase of natural resources, such as natural gas and oil, public health and environmental concerns have arisen. This topic has been the discussion of many people and whether or not there should be some form of government regulation in place, as it is nonexistent to this day. With that said, hydraulic fracturing in the United States has more negative effects on drinking water and the environment over time and should not be used as a means to obtain natural resources.

The mantra of the gas industry is there has never been a proven instance of well water contamination caused by the fracking process, which so far remains true. Most of the problems documented in "Gasland" including in Dimock resulted from the drilling, not the fracking procedure. But that does not mean fracking fluids pose no threat to our water supplies. They contain some chemicals that are harmful even in very tiny amounts. The fluid that comes back up out of the ground is saturated with salts, is sometimes radioactive and often contains harmful heavy metals like arsenic. Carl Kirby, a geologist at Bucknell who does not appear in the film, says the prospect of fracking fluids migrating up through thousands of feet of rock to contaminate water wells is “unlikely but not impossible.”The history of what’s gone wrong thus far in Pennsylvania suggests accident and human error pose as much risk as the fracking process, an angle Fox does not explore. Several weeks ago, a truck full of fracking brine overturned at an intersection about eight miles from my family home. The spill was contained by local volunteer firemen, county emergency responders and the drilling company, and it did not contaminate the small

Fracking promoters say safe hydraulic fracking doesn’t threaten drinking water. They also disprove that the water used in hydraulic fracturing ends up as surface spills. There are three ways reported for waste water disposal including “injecting in permitted disposal wells in accordance with Underground Injection Control Regulations, delivered to water treatment facilities depending on permitting, and reused/recycled” (“Pioneering America’s Energy Future”). These three types of disposals are considered safe as long as agencies are regulating hydraulic fracturing companies carefully. The Oil and Gas Conservation Act makes oil and gas a state priority, allowing companies the legal right to fracture. It is harder to judge whether regulations are actually set in place when government wants to favor the creation of jobs and economic boost rather than worrying about the health of communities affected by

To define fracking in latent terms, it’s the process of injecting liquids into rock at high pressures in order to extract oil and gas. The biggest concern looming over this growing industry is the environmental risks that it poses. Everyone wants oil, but no one wants it in their backyard. The cities of Texas are taking the position that fracking has more disadvantages environmentally than it has benefits that outweigh those costs. Not only is clean air in danger, but water sources are vulnerable to this environmentally-unfriendly commerce. The most common liquid used for fracking is water, and very large amounts of water are consistently required, but where is all of this water coming from? Other concerns that fracking causes such as contamination, “methane gas and toxic chemicals leach out from the system and contaminate nearby groundwater. Methane concentrations are 17 times higher in drinking-water wells near fracturing sites than in normal wells”

Hydraulic fracturing in combination with advancement in directional drilling has made it possible to economically extract oil and gas from unconventional resources. The growth in U.S. oil and gas exploration and production made possible by the increase in use of hydraulic fracturing, has raised concerns about its potential to impact human health and the environment. Concerns have been raised by the public about the effects of hydraulic fracturing on quality and quantity of drinking water resources. The hydraulic fracturing water cycle includes five main activities: the withdrawal of ground or surface water needed for hydraulic fracturing fluids; the mixing of water, chemicals, and proppant on the well pad to create the hydraulic fracturing fluid; the injection of hydraulic fracturing fluids into the well to fracture the formation, the return of injected fluid and water produced from the formation to the surface; and the reuse, treatment and disposal of wastewater generated at the well pad, including produced water (U.S. EPA, 2015). With the water cycle being so massive and prolonged, the presence of potential negative impacts is greatly increased.

For instance, drilling deep enough into the ground where it is almost impossible for chemicals to reach the water table could eliminate illnesses brought on by water contamination. An additional way to prevent illnesses is to apply more than two layers of pipe casing and concrete. This would lessen the chances of fracking fluid breaking the barrier to the water table, and prevent the mixture of chemicals from leaking out of the pipe. Many also believe that fracking can cause both earthquakes and sinkholes. There are no simple solutions to these natural disasters happening in areas prone to them. So instead of performing hydraulic fracturing in places that are prone to natural disaster, it can be done in places where it is less likely for these unavoidable events to occur. Scientists are also developing methods that are used to indicate the risk of natural disasters based on location. Hydraulic Fracturing accidents can occur above and below ground. For example, on April 11, 2011, a hydraulic fracturing blowout caused gallons of fracking fluid to spill in the surrounding area. This wasn’t the first hydraulic fracturing spill, and it unfortunately won’t be the last. A way to prevent these spills is to use a mobile evaporator. This evaporator would be able to filter and clean fluid. This machine would recycle spilled fracking fluid, so the water can still be used. The mobile evaporator, would prevent tons of chemical and water used from being wasted. Surface impoundments used for storage or disposal would also prevent fracking fluid spills. Surface impoundments are trench-like containment area that are utilized for storage or disposal of fracking mixture. This allows for simple and effective temporary storage where the fluid can be reused, stored, or held for disposal. Recycling the fracking mixture can also prevent spills. If the fracking fluid is able to be used multiple times there is

Fracking is the process where pressurized water is injected into shale beds, or layers of sedimentary rock, which opens the rock to release oil and natural gas. Fracking is dangerous for many reasons, but one of the strongest affects it has is on our drinking water. Anywhere from 2 to 8 million gallons of water are used to frack only one well. Shockingly, just 10 percent of the water used returns to the surface. However, water isn’t the only thing being put in the ground- a “toxic stew” of chemicals and sand are also added. Over 40,000 gallons of chemicals are used every time we frack. The chemicals in the fracking mixture can make its way to our groundwater, harming the

The process of hydraulic fracturing – shooting water, sand, and chemicals at high pressure into underground wells to release natural gas – is a divisive issue: Some say it dumps chemicals into ground water supplies, others argue it causes earthquakes, and still others think it can revolutionize America’s energy industry.

Hydraulic fracturing (also known as fracking) is a highly controversial process in which gas and oil are extracted from rock formations thousands of feet underground. While there are definite benefits of using fracking, there are also environmental issues that we need to be aware of. There are green alternatives to hydraulic fracturing, and further research needs to be done to identify the possible long term environmental and health concerns that are associated with fracking before our government continues to use it as a source of obtaining oil and gas.

Hydraulic fracturing also known as fracking is a process used to release natural gasses from the shale rocks. Shale rock is a type of that is found underneath the earth’s surface. It consists of mud, clay, and other minerals. In order to release these gasses companies must drill up to 10,000 feet into the ground, where high-powered fracking fluid or water mixed with sand and chemicals are put into a metal pipe that is put into place to ensure the stability of the hole that is being drilled. “There are approximately 40,000 gallons of chemicals used per fracturing. There are 600 chemicals used in the fracking fluid, some of which are lead, uranium, mercury,…” On average it takes anywhere from one to eight million gallons of water to complete

In the United States, hydraulic fracturing, dubbed “Fracking”, has become more and more popular in recent years. The goal of fracking is drilling into the ground and extracting the oil and natural gas that lays beneath the earth. However, this has drawn a lot of controversy due to its negative impacts on the environment. One of the main concerns is during drilling, waste water that is produced can potentially go into nearby sources of drinking water. It has also been observed that earthquakes have happened near areas where fracking occurs. The opposition argues that the process does not lead to contamination because the drilling happens well below freshwater sources while the

Another problem that we know exists with hydraulic fracturing is the contamination of the water, the ground, and the air around the sites (Goldman pg. 2). It has been shown that “…residents living near the hydraulic fracturing sites are increasingly worried that the drilling process might be contaminating their well water, polluting streams, and releasing toxic gases into the air (Hobson).” Water sources, as well as the soil, are often polluted from flowback fluid and from production brine (Hydro-Fracking pg.4). Flowback fluid is “the contaminated fluid that returns to the surface during the drilling process, and is estimated to be between 9% - 35% of the fluids injected during