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The Pros And Cons Of Fracking

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Fracking is a process in which fractures in rocks below the earth’s surface are opened and widened by injecting chemicals and liquids at high pressure, used especially to extract natural gas and oil.(Webster Dictionary) While researching information on fracking, I have come to realize that there are pros and cons to this particular process and why it is important to the world. In addition, I learned that during the drilling process, it is always vertical and not so much horizontal (BBC.com). With this method, new pathways are created for reuse. Finally, when the shale rock is fractured, oil and gas are extracted and releasing of natural gas. Sounds pretty simple right? However there are studies that have opposed to this type of drilling …show more content…

One topic is the alteration of drinking water. “Hydraulic fracturing fluids contain toxic chemicals and are being injected into and near drinking water supplies..this operation utilizes high volumes of fluids and high pressures to intentionally open up underground pathways for gas and oil to flow. Injected fluids have been known to travel as far as 3,000 feet from a well and fracturing fluids may remain underground” (Earthworks) Granted, the high pressure water mixture consist of water and sand but there are also the chemicals that make up the the mixture. These chemicals used can include Benzene, Toluene, Ethyle Benzene, Xylene, and other toxins which can become trapped underground. According to water pollution surveys throughout the communities where hydraulic fracturing drilling takes place, the main concerns are developing serious health problems such as cancer, respiratory disease, reproduction problems, and skin problems just to name a few (Earthworks). Throughout my research, I have yet to come across any materials that support such claims but that is not to say that none exist, these chemicals are very dangerous and should be given respect when handling them. Needless to say, since hydraulic fracturing was first used to recover natural gas and oil in 1947, the industrial industry has taken the necessary steps to ensure and maintain safety first and to ensure the safety of communities and the protection of the

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In 1949, fracking was first greeted into the oil and gas industry. Fracking is the pumping of water down a well of oil or gas while under high stress to break open streams in rocks holding gas or oil. Sand or another material is used as a proppant to push cracks open once cracks are created. That allows gas and oil to easily cost to the well, which all adds to the number of material that can be caught. The method of fracking increased at a high rate in Texas and Oklahoma in their gas and oil fields.

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856 Words | 4 Pages

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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612 Words | 3 Pages

Fracking is worse for the environment than conventional oil drilling because conventional drilling does not present as many environmental threats as fracking does. It is estimated that energy companies consumed nearly 250 billion gallons of water between 2005 and 2014 for hydraulic fracturing. This is more water per unit of energy produced than conventional oil and gas exploration requires for drilling and cementing wells (How Much Water Do U.S. Fracking Operations Really Use?). Also, fracking companies are not required to disclose the chemicals used in fracking fluids, also known as slickwater. Since the fracking process is so complicated, any mistake could trigger mass contamination of these chemicals into surrounding environments such as

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1385 Words | 6 Pages

Though with those benefits, there are many risks including water contamination, air pollution, high methane emission, induced seismicity, and high worker injury or death. The effects fracking has on the environment and

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1147 Words | 5 Pages

Economic gains associated with fracking are outweighed by the human and environmental damages caused. The extraction and utilization of fossil fuels comes with environmental concerns, and fracking is no exception. The fracking process involves drilling deep wells and injecting a mix of water, chemicals, and sand at a high pressure to release natural gas. Fracking can pollute freshwater and is linked to earthquakes in surrounding areas.

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1027 Words | 5 Pages

If a well exceeds its drilling zone, it may also find it’s way into our groundwater aquifers. Also, if two wells’ fractures intersect each other, they can form together and create new fissures, leading into underground reservoirs. And we still do not know the full extent of the damage, considering that with over the course of several years and decades, natural fissures may let fracking wastewater into the groundwater beneath our feet. While all this goes on, it has been speculated that water used for irrigation has been contaminated. This poses serious health threats to people.

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975 Words | 4 Pages

Hydraulic fracturing, also known as “fracking” is the process where natural gas is extracted from the layer of shale rock found deep in the earth’s crust. Fracking is a highly controversial topic. Controversy arises from debates tying fracking to contaminated drinking water, excessive amounts of water use, higher greenhouse-gas emissions, the use of carcinogens during the process. Few people that are educated on the topic will not choose a side, most will form a strong personal opinion swaying either for or in opposition to fracking. I believe that fracking is dangerous, not only for those living today, but also those that will have to endure the consequences of fracking in the future.

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1455 Words | 6 Pages

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.

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1763 Words | 8 Pages

Unfortunately, society focuses on the benefits of fracking, rather than the risks because fracking still happens today. Fracking causes water contamination because, “faulty casings near underground aquifers, intersections of old wells with new wells, seepage from fissures in the shale formation, or flowback water seeping back into the ground,” (Suzuki 272). There are toxic chemicals that are mixing with the water supply, which are causing injurious side effects. Chemicals involved in fracking come from the underground water, “chemical additives within fracking fluid, flowback water also causes contamination because it contains dangerous chemicals, including alarming amounts of salt, mercury, arsenic, and other heavy metals,” (Suzuki 272). Furthermore, fracking fluids are getting into shallow aquifers, which contaminates drinking water.

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1206 Words | 5 Pages

While our research of fracking is still in its beginning phases we have already collected significant amounts of data that have shown its destructiveness. One of the flaws in the fracking process is that the cementing processes used to seal the wells are often rather faulty and tend to leak and release pollutants into the environment. When the seals fail the chemicals from the slickwater are introduced into the ground water of the surrounding areas, a leaky well also releases greenhouse gasses like methane into the air. To be honest, the pollution caused by fracking is not even its worst side effect. The areas that are near the fracking sites are also suffering from the effects of fracking.

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443 Words | 2 Pages

There has been a big debate whether or not fracking is good for the environment; however, scientifically it has been proven fracking is harmful to our ecosystem. Fracking has gone on for several decades, just to collect fossil fuels. Fracking is a 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. From what I read from the article “Fracking Fuels Energy Debate” is that fracking has caused several environmental issues on our planet.

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1568 Words | 7 Pages

The search for new, clean energy has been going on for a number of years with a plethora of ideas and innovations as evidence. One of the biggest and most talked about alternative energy sources is natural gas. Found in shale beds underground, natural gas is obtained by a process called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking as it’s more commonly known, that breaks apart the rock by using high pressurized chemicals. Though it has been a known process for some time, the argument of whether fracking is worthwhile is still going strong. Some believe the risk it brings to the environment is too high, while others think the positives outrank the negatives.

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983 Words | 4 Pages

The environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing in the United States consist of serious health effects to the general public. Theses effects include: poor air quality and contaminating groundwater, as

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893 Words | 4 Pages

Hydraulic fracturing is a process used in nine out of 10 natural gas wells in the United States, where millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals are pumped underground to break apart the rock and release the gas (what is). This new and booming form of extracting natural gasses from shale rock is sweeping the nation in controversy. Fracking has many issues, those for it claim it has large economic benefits while remaining environmentally safe. Those against claim it does in fact effect our environment, The debate over fracking and its recent boom indicate a need for better understanding of the effects of Hydraulic Fracking.

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943 Words | 4 Pages

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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