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The Pros And Cons Of Fracking

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Humans value electricity, we need it for everything from banking to cleaning even doing our homework. Until very recently we relied primarily on coal fired power plants (some places use nuclear and hydroelectric plants), more recently we have moved to cleaner fuel sources like methane. Methane burns cleaner and has little to no hazardous off gassing, the problem lies with how methane is mined. Hydraulic fracturing or fracking is the process of drilling down into the earth before a high-pressure water mixture is directed at the rock to release the gas inside. Water, sand and chemicals are injected into the rock at high pressure which allows the gas to flow out to the head of the well. We need clean drinking water and humans do not value it …show more content…

The pressure increase during fracking itself is relieved once the gas is released, but the disposal wells have long-term pressure increases that have no relief system. The pressure in the disposal wells is not unlike the pressure that builds along a fault line, once the strain reaches a critical point the surrounding rock will fracture causing an earthquake. Disposal wells are not the only way fracking can lead to earthquakes, the fracking fluid is forced into the wells under pressure in order to fracture the gas contain shale (which is very brittle), but sometimes the cracks do not stop in the shale layer. In 2011, all drilling was suspended after a government panel determined that there was a high probability that the resent earthquakes where caused by nearby test drilling (BBC 2015). That is not the first time fracking was linked to tremors, in 2010 Youngtown, Ohio had their first earthquake in over two hundred years. Lulls in activity were directly linked to holiday shutdowns of the nearby Northstar 1 injection well (Science Teacher 21). Earthquakes can happen almost anywhere but nether England nor Ohio are in seismic hot spots, what is going to happen when an oil company is allowed to start drilling in California or Alaska (the most geologically active parts of the United

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Numerous people argue that tapping into the earth’s shale in this manner causes seismic activity. Generating little earthquakes deep within the earth’s core. Providing entry for the chemical mixture used in the fracking process to bleed into ground water, and water wells leaving them contaminated. Majority of the time these little earthquakes go undetected on the earth’s surface. Arguments that fumes from these chemical mixtures and gasses escape and ooze into the earth’s atmosphere furthermore causing harmful life changing consequences such as terminal cancer and birth defects.

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Seismic shocks are sent through the ground to fracture the rocks. The injection of highly pressurised fluids allows the natural gases that are contained by the pores can flow via the newly created pathways to reach production wells. The real question is whether there is any truth behind the possibility for the shale gas extraction to induce seismic events at nearby faults? And if so,

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One of the most heated debates in the political and environmental areas is the debate over hydraulic fracturing, or more its more colloquial term “fracking”. Fracking is the process by which normally inaccessible hydrocarbon deposits are made available. First a well is drilled down vertically, once the pipe has reached the shale it begins to bore horizontally for thousands more feet. Then, a combination of water, sand, and various chemicals are pushed out of the pipe at up to 9000 pounds per square inch. This frees the natural gas (a hydrocarbon) to then be pumped to the surface.

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Fracking can cause small earthquakes. “Additionally, many areas of the United States not considered earthquake-prone, such as Ohio and Oklahoma, are now experiencing relatively strong seismic

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" 6 Facts about Human-Caused Earthquakes. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May

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"Fracking refers to the procedure of creating fractures in rocks and rock formations by injecting fluid into cracks to force them further open, releasing oil and gas. " These oils and gases are used to generate electrical power that is necessary throughout everyday life. Fracking does provide a more simple and cheaper way to retrieve these natural oils and gases, but it does have a large effect on the health of communities nearby. This is causing debates that question the process of fracking and whether or not it is endangering the surrounding people and the environment. Fracking does provide an economic advantage for companies, but its disadvantages are also extremely important towards the health of others and the environment.

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Fracking (hydraulic fracturing) in Maryland has been banned but was it ever given a chance? Fracking is a common form of drilling for oil and gas, but this form is not practiced in Maryland due to it being banned by state law. Fracking is conducted by shooting water, sand, and chemicals under extremely high pressure, down an oil well to crack apart the rock and release trapped oil and gas. The downfall to this method is that the water has to go somewhere, and it could it end up in drinking water causing the water to become polluted and potently “poisoned”. Governor Hogan signed Maryland’s fracking ban into law on April 4, 2017.

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What the Frack? Cancer, earthquakes, infertility, pollution, and droughts. These are all products of a sad reality for those living near hydraulic fracturing cites. Hydraulic fracturing, or more commonly referred to as fracking, is the process of injecting waste-water, or water filled with hazardous chemicals and sand, down into oil rigs to obtain oil and natural gas.

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Fracking cannot cause an earthquake directly.

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The quivering began to intensify, causing belongings to fall in residents’ homes. It was the beginning of the 5.7-magnitude Oklahoma earthquake, which struck on November 6, 2011 and resulted in significant structural damage (“Oklahoma’s Largest Quake in Decades Buckles Highway; Rattles Residents,” CNN). A journalistic study—published in the journal Geology—conducted in 2013 showed that the 2011 earthquake was actually caused by fracking, a practice in which water is injected into the Earth’s ground (“Wastewater Injection

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According to the U.S. Geological Survey, of the 48 earthquake prone states, Oklahoma tops the charts and the reasons seem to be manmade. (Magnitude 5.8 Earthquake in Oklahoma). Oil and gas drilling has shook Oklahoma, in the literal sense. Nearly a thousand earthquakes affected the state last year, and consistently caused damage in many regions. Many fingers are being pointed at oil and gas industries along with hydraulic fracturing, otherwise known as fracking.

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Secondly, one of the biggest concerns with fracking is air pollution. Although many who are pro fracking say that it does help the environment since fracking actually provide a variety of different alternatives for the use of fossil fuels, which in return reduces carbon emissions. Backing up these claims Bjørn Lomborg, a fracking supporter and director if the environmental assessment institue says “Carbon-dioxide emissions in the United States have dropped to their lowest level in 20 years,” (2). Though this may be true, it doesn’t necessarily mean that fracking is safer for the environment. Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Earth Systems Research Laboratory in Denver are claiming that natural gases such

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Everybody uses natural gas and oil, whether it is to power your house or make your car run there is gas being used somewhere. Unless there is a way for America to extract their own oil or natural gas their prices will always be high. Guess what, there is a way for America to extract natural gas and it is called Fracking! Hydraulic Fracturing or Fracking is the way of extracting natural gas and oil from the ground, but at a price. It could harm the Earth by using up a lot of the water source that we have left on the planet, and it is trapping all of the heat on the planet by a thing called the greenhouse effect.

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Recently, on January 7th 2016, there was an earthquake caused by fracking, in Oklahoma, where earthquakes are rare. This particular quake was a 4.8 on the Richter Scale, which is the highest ever recorded. It occurred in the center of the state, was felt all over. Also, within the past week, there have been more than 20 quakes all over the state. in recent years, since 2011, earthquakes have occurred more and more often.

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