Energy production is essential in the developed world and the energy production industry takes advantage of any means of production that is both cheap and abundant. One such energy market that has been gaining momentum in the United States over the past decade is high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF), colloquially known as “fracking.” This is the use of unconventional mining techniques, large volumes of water, and potentially hazardous chemicals, to force the extraction of natural gas from underground shale deposits. Fracking utilizes horizontal drilling that is otherwise not implemented at conventional natural gas sites. While industry boasts that this practice is safe, concerns have risen relating to potential hazards that can affect the surrounding environment. The negative impacts that each HVHF installment may have on surrounding water resources has become a critical concern. During any given …show more content…
This registry gives the general public access to a database containing many of the chemicals commonly employed in fracking practices. Fracfocus.org lists the chemicals by name and assigns to each its Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) registry number, purpose, and function. For example, the chemical glutaraldehyde’s purpose is to eliminate “bacteria in the water that produces corrosive by-products” and is given the function “biocide”. FracFocus states that the “multiplicity of names can make a search for chemicals somewhat difficult and frustrating”, thus the CAS number identifies the specific chemical substance regardless of any other name it may be given. This makes identifying the chemicals used in fracking a less arduous task. With knowledge of the spectrum of chemicals is use, contamination of ground and surface waters can be more thoroughly examined and