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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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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.

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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 (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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It involves high-pressure injections of water and chemicals into rock formations, which in turn release natural gas (Thompson, “Hydraulic Fracturing Should Be Banned”). However, fracking can result in many negative outcomes. For instance, scientists who conducted the earthquake study for Geology discovered that not only did fracking cause the biggest earthquake in Oklahoma, but it also caused more earthquakes in states that hardly experienced any seismic activity (“Wastewater Injection Spurred Biggest Earthquake Yet, Says Study,” The Earth Institute Columbia University). In fact, quakes have hit so frequently in Oklahoma, that state and oil regulators decided to shut down five disposal wells due to the increasing number of earthquakes in a city named Cushing (“Oil Regulators Shut Down Two Disposal Wells After Earthquakes Near Cushing”, State Impact: NPR).

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Fracking is a process in which natural gas is removed from the ground. Since, natural gas fuels 40% of the country’s electricity generation, most people consider fracking necessary (www.gracelinks.org). During the fracking process, chemicals are forced into the Earth, causing natural gas to flow out. Strangely, most of these chemicals are protected under trade secret exemptions, but studies have

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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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The act of injecting fracking fluid deep into the earth is a risky process. If the fracking fluid is injected into a fault, it can cause the plates to slip creating an earthquake. The state of Oklahoma recently admitted the increase in earthquakes is directly related to injections, underground wells and drilling operations located beneath the state. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission stated, “Oklahoma experienced 585 magnitude 3-plus earthquakes in 2014 compared to 109 in 2013”(Ellsworth).

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It should not have earthquakes, however because of fracking it does now. Currently in Illinois fracking is illegal, however that may change in the future because it might become a legal act. This action could result in more earthquakes in Illinois. Another interesting concern is fracking near the San Andreas fault line. This fault is right next to the border of two massive tectonic plates.

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