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Pros And Cons Of Hydraulic Fracturing

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In the science industry there are many different controversies which are questioned every day, hydraulic fracturing is just one of these controversies. Hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, is a relatively new process which allows extraction of previously unobtainable natural gas from rock deep within the Earth’s surface. Drilling allows pressurized fracking fluids to be injected into the shale, creating new paths for the natural gas to be extracted from. The fluids are said to burst the paths created and allow the fluid as well as natural gas to escape and contaminate ground water. Although this is great for obtaining more natural gas, which is a much cleaner form of energy compared to other fossil fuels, it also raises concerns about contaminating aquifers which are found in the same vicinity as the gas bearing shale. While some believe it does contaminate the ground water, others believe it does not. …show more content…

Richard J. Davies, from the Department of Earth Sciences in Durham University, says that contamination may be present in aquifers but there is no proof that it is caused by fracking. Davies states that the tested wells in Pennsylvania and upstate New York may be contaminated but there hasn’t been recordings of the ground water beforehand. This could mean that the natural gas contamination could predate the hydraulic fracturing operations (3). Tarek Saba and Mark Orzechowski who are civil and environmental consultants also believe that there is a lack of data supporting the idea of fracking contaminating aquifers. They say that proposed averages in the areas are exaggerated, and that other data of the same areas shows more of a random contamination in both active and inactive wells. They say that the contamination has just happened over time through pores on the shale

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Being in the ground the fluid has the ability to seep into the soil and into water, where it will contaminate drinking water. As fracking involves drilling over 1.6 km into the ground, which is a lot deeper than water bearing rocks. In this case there is the chance that contamination occurs where the drill hole goes through these rocks. Moreover, if the hole is not properly cased to stop leaks the fracking water and fluids can seep into the water aquifers. Wells that are built in rural areas are dangerous as many people in these areas are unaware of the dangers of fracking.

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This is mentioned in Source B. “In one study of 200 private water wells in the fracking regions of Pennsylvania, water quality was the same before and soon after drilling in all wells except one. The only surprise from that study was that many of the wells failed drinking water regulations before drilling started.” (Source A) Also “Pennsylvania companies now recycle 90 percent of this briny water by using it to frack more shale.”

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In 2010 a case of contaminated ground water determined that Hydraulic Fracking were leaking chemicals of Benzene, Toluene,

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Water contamination is one of the most well-known risks caused by hydrofracking, most likely because water is one of the key components of this process. “Each well uses between two and five million gallons of locally-sourced freshwater which will be permanently contaminated” by the toxic chemicals placed into the water during fracking (Fracking: The Dangers). Some of the water returns to earth’s surface and is stored above ground in steel casks. It is finally inserted deep into the ground into “waste wells” (Fracking: The Dangers). Unaccounted water that is not put into waste wells may stay underground; however, its chemicals can make their way into the water supply of the surrounding areas which causes contamination.

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Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for natural gas can be detrimental to the water sources the public and wildlife need so much. First of all, the way the water that was used for fracturing the shale stone is stored, can render public water sources useless for consumption or residential use. The recovered

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First of all, hydraulic fracking requires a massive amount of water. According to the EPA, 70 to 140 billion gallons of water, the same amount required to provide for 40 to 80 cities annually, is used to frack in the US each year. In Texas, ranchers, who are already suffering from drought conditions, worry as fracking companies continue to pump millions of gallons of water from the aquifer beneath their feet. These ranchers worry that as the drilling continues to drain the aquifer, there will soon be no water left for them to irrigate their fields and provide for their livestock. Ranchers shouldn’t be the only ones who are worried, as groundwater is connected; pumping water from one aquifer can drain that of another, and the over-pumping of water can drain water sources in a larger radius than just the pumping site.

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Hydraulic fracturing (also known as fracking) is the process of extracting natural gas from shale rock deep in the ground. The fracking rig drills a pipe many miles below the ground and then injects highly pressurized fracking fluids into the shale area to release the shale gas. This process uses millions of gallons of water and hundreds of thousands of gallons of chemicals. The United Kingdom (UK) government is introducing a new range of licenses that if approved would allow fracking in more areas of the UK and Scotland . Hydraulic fracking should be banned because this process is detrimental to the local environment by damaging vital eco-systems and even damaging the atmosphere.

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"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

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Hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, is a very controversial method of capturing oil and natural gas. It involves shooting a solution of water, sand, and almost 600 chemicals at extreme pressure into underground wells, causing the rock formations to crack. This allows the oil and natural gas to flow more freely, allowing previously trapped resources to be harvested. Fracking is so controversial because the potential monetary gains are enormous, yet the environmental impacts are devastating. The documentary “Gasland”, directed and narrated by Josh Fox, provided first hand insight into the fracking industry.

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Since fracking was introduced in 1949, well over 2 million frack treatments have been pumped without a single documented case of treatments polluting a water aquifer (Worstall). This shows that with the correct management and prevention of risks fracking can be seen as a positive. Fracking is also a positive as it dives down gas prices allowing the utilities the American people receive from the gas goes up as they spend less money on it and also fracking has begun to create jobs that are available to Michigan residences. However, many skeptics believe that fracking can be seen as a negative as it pollutes the air and water, thus damaging the Earth. The Earth is already beginning to be negatively impacted by pollution and the burning of greenhouse

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In today’s global fight for the growing demand of energy and promotion of saving energy, fracking has become very controversial. The dangers to our society and health are at the forefront in conducting safer practices. To obtain the natural gas, fracking or hydraulic fracking must be conducted. Fracking is defined as blasting high-pressure water, sand, and chemicals deep underground, and allowing the formations to fracture. This practice releases the natural gas out of the formations and is used for power.

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In this discussion we will be going over the importance and the controversial aspects of hydraulic fracturing. Many people are on either side of the spectrum in supporting or not supporting hydraulic fracturing, and some people have not developed their own opinion. Hopefully this brief will provide information from both sides of the spectrum and give an un biased representation of the economic importance and the environmental problems that can occur during the fracking process, so that a better understanding of fracking can be brought to those who are unsure of their stance on the issue. A quick definition is as follows, hydraulic fracturing is a form of oil and natural gas mining that pumps fluid into shales to break them apart creating space

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Hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking to the general public, is a process that fractures rock beds, commonly shale, to release stored, previously unobtainable natural gas (Holloway and

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Hydraulic fracturing, also known as “fracking”, is the action of drilling into the Earth and pumping water through in order to extract natural gas. Since the Energy Policy Act of 2005 was passed, the natural gas industries have increased production. On the downside, claims of water contamination due to the natural gas drilling began to rise. The issue that many people have had with hydraulic fracturing isn’t just the contamination to our environment, rather people have seen the contamination in the government. The government, since the Energy Policy Act of 2005, does not require the natural gas companies to release the components of their “fracking fluid” that they mix with water that, even after use, isn’t disposed of properly.

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Researchers have “requested data from Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, and Texas, all states heavily involved in the recent surge of oil and gas drilling, about complaints related to hydraulic fracking for oil and gas” for their research on fracking (Dechert).   The research collected was shocking, over 2,000 complaints in Texas alone and several cases on well water contamination within the states mentioned in Decherd’s article. People need to be alerted about how real fracking is and the damages it is doing. These complaints and cases should be a wakeup call to the world and say that we should put it to a

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