What´s Hydraulic Fracturing

For the past twenty to thirty years, hydraulic fracturing, more commonly known as fracking, has been the number one source of natural gas, oil, and energy in the United States. The process of fracking is that a well is built above the ground and then a drill digs several thousand feet deep into the ground to extract the oil and natural gas that is trapped inside of rock formations. Fracking is very controversial because of the cost of the process and the environmental “threats” that it poses. From methane emissions to earthquakes, fracking has been accused to be linked with several environmental issues. To prevent any environmental dangers, states place regulations and boundaries that energy companies have to follow in order to build a well and keep it up and running. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) also works with states to help regulate these wells. More importantly, fracking in the United States is very important and acts as a bridge to the future. While it may be argued that hydraulic fracturing is not beneficial to the economy and harmful to the environment, fracking in the United States should not be banned because fracking is not only imperative to the growth of jobs and the economy, but it also does not put the surrounding environment in danger.

There can be a lot of health and environmental risk that come with fracking in Texas, such

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has been a hot topic in recent times due to its controversial ways. Many people argue that it is a way for the United States to become less dependent on foreign oil, while others argue that the environmental cons outweigh the pros of fracking. Fracking is the process of extracting natural gas from underground by drilling into the earth. This is done by injecting water, sand, and chemicals into a bedrock formation by a well (“Hydraulic Fracking”). By doing this, the process creates new fractures in the rock, as well as making previously made fractures bigger and easier to access (“Hydraulic Fracking”). Fracking is mostly done is areas that have low-permeability rocks like tight sandstone, shale, and some coal beds to increase the flow of oil and/or gas to a well (“Hydraulic Fracking”). The fracking process can take up to a month; the drilling team going more than a mile into the earth to extract the natural gases or oil. After the job is done, the well is cemented up (“What is Fracking”).

By increasing the areas allowed for domestic oil drilling, the United States can cut the amount of oil it most import each day in half.

of drilling for natural gas. Again the process of waste disposal in fracking is also the cause of

through. The chemicals are then able to move through the ground and into many vital water

‘[Watts] revealed a few inconvenient facts. A 1976 study by the Colorado Division of Water found that this area was plagued with gas in the water problems back then. And it was naturally occurring. As the report stated there was “troublesome amounts of methane” in the water decades before fracking began. It seems that in geographical areas gas has always been in the water’ (Watts,

Many people do not know where and how most of their energy is being produced. A well as how those people who have near hydraulic Fracking are affected by it and the eco system that they live in. Which is why the people need to act and find a much more safe way of getting natural gases without getting water supplies infected with chemicals that can cause life changing effect to the people's health.

energy needs for decades."Fracking has unlocked massive new supplies of oil and clean-burning natural gas from dense deposits of shale — supplies that increase our country’s energy security and improve our ability to generate electricity, heat homes and power vehicles for generations to come," according to Yost, Erin E., John Stanek, and Lyle D. Burgoon , an alliance of oil and gas industry groups.But opponents say the industry is whitewashing fracking's real effects, a long list that includes air pollution, groundwater contamination, health problems and surface water

“While the use of this technology has proven to be a game changer for increasing the domestic production of oil and gas

B.Hydraulic fracturing, more commonly known as fracking, is a method of oil and natural gas extraction used to release natural gas that can be converted into energy. A mixture of water, sand, and chemicals is injected into shale formations thousands of feet below the surface returning with an untapped flow either gas or oil. Essentially, it is a relatively inexpensive and increasingly common method of energy

The greatest environmental hazard of fracking proves to be the use of toxic chemicals. This happens because oil and gas industries are not required to disclose what chemicals they use when fracking. Some chemicals that scientists have discovered in fracking mixtures include Methanol, 2-Butoxyethanol and sodium chloride. These chemicals all have dangerous side effects if consumed. Humans are not the only species harmed by these effects. Even small amounts of sodium chloride in freshwater bodies such as

* Most of unconventional gas, such as shale and tight sand, is too deep in the ground to have the fluid reach aquifer.

The process of fracking begins with an exploration well being drilled, which tests for potential reserves. If these reserves are discovered in

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.).”