Hydraulic Fracking Is Bad

The use of hydraulic fracking has been around since the 1940’s to extract small batches of natural gas. It was not until 2003 that the fracking process started extracting large quantities of natural gas and oil. Today, there is major controversy over the idea that hydraulic fracturing may or may not be harmful to the earth. One side says it is safe to use hydraulic fracking, others state that it is dangerous to society. Many people believe fracking is harmful to the environment because it pollutes the air and water and can possibly inject harmful chemicals in the earth.

For many years scientists have studied the effects of hydraulic fracturing on water sources. With much controversy they say that hydraulic fracking is “subject to both federal

Oil companies construct “drilling wells with steel casings and cement barriers” to prevent the movement of gas and oil (“Not a Public Health Risk”). The steel is impermeable to the chemicals used in the fracking process. Cement barriers are a second layer of protection in case of human construction error and stop the chemicals from leaking if they were to ever leak. In an interview with Oil and Gas Attorney, Diana Dean, she was asked about the probability of the leakage of harmful chemicals like hydrochloric acid or methanol, she responded “ It is not likely but it is very possible due to human error in the building process of the wells” (Dean). The casings are assembled by man and have a ninety-nine percent success rate in preventing leaks. Although the majority of the wells are built successfully there is that one percent chance that a casing has not been put together properly. If both of the safety precautions are properly exercised it is almost impossible that there would be any harmful chemicals leaked into the

Overtime-harmful chemicals leak into the surrounding soil and rocks (Squire 31). Though there is a ninety-nine percent chance that there are no leaks during fracking there is always the one percent chance that human error can cause leaks. Most of the time, that one-percent of error is caused by humans when the drill is assembled. When these chemicals leak they “can cause series damage to the surrounding ecosystems” (Squire 33). If hydrochloric acid were to leak into rivers or into soil it would essentially kill everything living near it. Preventing this is a major concern in protection our environment. Injecting chemicals in the earth can ultimately kill everything on