"Hydraulic fracturing, the process of extracting oil or gas by forcing fluids into the ground to fracture shale rocks, at the Eagle Ford Shale Play has produced more oil and natural gas but at the cost of environmental hazards and affect human health. The part of the process that creates the environmental hazards is the fracking fluids that are forced into the ground. For each fracking job, these fluids are comprised of 1 to 8 million gallons of water and 40,000 gallons of chemicals. Some of the 600 chemical carcinogens and toxins in the fracking fluids are lead, radium, uranium, mercury, methanol, hydrochloric acid, ethylene glycol, and formaldehyde. Once the fracking job is done, about 50 to 70 percent of fracking liquids are left in open …show more content…
This is where the tanker trucks came in; where not only a few are used, but 400 tanker trucks are utilized for the assignment. Evidently, a lot of fuel is dissipated to transfer the liquids and supplies, generating excessive carbide monoxide. These tanker trucks are just a few of the abundant vehicles that Texas has emitting more hazardous air pollutants, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides , hydrocarbons, and particulate matter into the atmosphere. Nitrogen oxide only and combined with hydrocarbons create a ground level gas that irritates the respiratory system. Carbon monoxide hinders the brain, heart, and other vital organs by blocking the passages used for oxygen. Sulfur dioxide is a risk to children with asthma. Hazardous air pollutants have been linked to birth defects, cancer, and other serious illnesses. In addition, the dropping gas prices fuel the public to consume gas without second-guessing about spending it, engendering air pollution and health hazards. Some areas in Texas have the worse air quality that has surpassed the National Ambient Air Quality Standards, also known as nonattainment areas. Texas has four nonattainment areas: Houston/Galveston, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Beaumont/Fort Worth and El