Hydraulic Fracking Report

Every year about 13,000 new hydraulic fracturing wells are made in the United States alone (Lallanilla 2015). So what is hydraulic fracturing , also known as “fracking”, and why are so many of these wells popping up? Hydraulic fracturing is a process that recovers natural gases and oil from shale rock. The shale rock or sometimes coalbed methane formations are then drilled and a well is made as deep as 10,000 feet below the surface. After a well has been drilled the actual fracking process begins. In this procedure a steel, pipe like structure is inserted into the well with openings cut in specific locations where the gas or oil has been targeted. These openings allow the fracturing fluid and since the rock cannot absorb the fluid being injected

According to the EarthWorks government site there are some seriously negative health effects that come with fracking. This is due to all the chemicals used to make the fracking fluid and how they can make their way into contact with humans. These chemicals can be ingested in water, contact with skin, or even be respired by way of vapor. These chemicals can lead to health hazards in almost every area imaginable such as EarthWorks cited Natural Gas Operations from a Public Health Perspective by Theo Colborn where he broke these hazards into the 12 categories seen here: “skin, eye and sensory organ, respiratory, gastrointestinal and liver, brain and nervous system, immune, kidney, cardiovascular and blood, cancer, mutagenic, endocrine disruption, other, and ecological…”. There are 71 chemicals used in fracking that are known to cause 10 or more health effects individually. The EPA also has stated that “chronic inhalation or oral exposure to methanol may result in headache, dizziness, giddiness, insomnia, nausea, gastric disturbances, conjunctivitis, visual disturbances (blurred vision), and blindness in humans.” (EarthWorks). The health of people is definitely an important issue but the health of our planet must also be taken into

Fracking has been shown to increase pollution in both the air and water surrounding fracking plants which are currently covering a wide area in the U.S. Hydraulic fracture can also lead to polluted ground and surface water (OccupyTheory 2014). Fracking releases benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene and n-hexane into the air and can be negative for organisms including humans nearby to fracking plants. Disposing of the waste water improperly is also detrimental to the environment like the example given of the fish kill that happened in 2009. In addition to affecting species nearby and the atmosphere hydraulic fracturing is now being linked to more earthquakes. Fracking is thought to have caused the biggest earthquake in Ohio recorded in 2011. There was also been over 100 tremors in Texas between 2008-2009 and although these links have not been proven completely there is some evidence (Lallanilla