Oilfield Research Paper

The Cause and Effects of the Oilfield

The cause and effects of the oilfield are more disastrous than most people know. The oil boom is destroying small towns throughout America. The processes of fracking and drilling are destroying the earths water resources because the millions of gallons of water are being used and it can never be used again because it is contaminated.

Drilling and fracking are more disastrous then most people might think. “It produces toxic chemicals in the air around the area they are fracking or drilling in. It waste millions of gallons of water for the fracking or drilling production, and it ends up being contaminated waste water. There has been an increased risk of seismic activity in oilfield areas. “It has also been

The effects also have on the environment effect that can mask communication with wildlife that are used to attract mates and defend their territory. It also can cause birds to abandon their nest and reproductive success. The effects the noise has on the human body, is if the dBA is above 65 for a long period of time it can affect the quality of sleep you get at night, hearing damage, it is also contributed to the aggravation and development of heart and circulatory diseases, a person’s initial annoyance is more extreme emotional response behavior, mental and bodily fatigue” (earthworkaction). “Oil and fracking production plants have been linked to increased risk of cancer, and birth defects” (NRDC). “It is also know to have about 632 chemicals identified from drilling and fracking operations throughout the U.S. Their research found that 75% of the chemicals could affect the skin, eyes, and other sensory organs, and the respiratory and gastrointestinal systems. Approximately 40–50% could affect the brain/nervous system, immune and cardiovascular systems, and the kidneys; 37% could affect the endocrine system; and 25% could cause cancer and mutations” (potential

Within days of the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico that killed eleven people, underwater cameras revealed the BP pipe was leaking oil and gas on the ocean floor about forty-two miles off the coast of Louisiana. By the time the well was capped on July 15, 2010 (eighty-seven days later), an estimated 3.19 million barrels of oil had leaked from the Macondo wellhead into the Gulf.. The well was located over five thousand feet beneath the water’s surface in the vast frontier of the deep sea. Making the spill the largest accidental ocean spill in history. Once the oil left the well, it spread throughout the water column. Some floated to the ocean 's surface to form oil slicks, which can spread more quickly by being pushed by winds. Some hovered suspended in the mid-water after rising from the wellhead like a chimney and forming several layers of oil, dispersant and seawater mixtures drifting down current; during the spill a twenty-two mile long oil plume was reported. This plume formed because chemical dispersants, released into the water to break up the oil so it could wash away, allowed the oil to mix with seawater and stay suspended below the surface. And some oil sunk to the seafloor by gluing together falling particles in the water such as bacteria and phytoplankton to form marine snow. As much as twenty