The Pros And Cons Of Fracking

There are over one millions wells in the United States of American that have been fracked since the 1940’s (Brantley, 2013). “Fracking,” also well know as hydraulic fracturing, is a process that is used to extract natural gas from rocks. Wells are drilled vertically into the ground to a desired depth, and then they continue horizontally between shale rock that is believed to contain natural gas. Once the well is drilled, a mix of water, sand-like substances, and other chemicals are pumped into the well at extremely high pressures in order to fracture the shale rock which will release the gas trapped inside. Once the gas flows out of the rock and into the well, it will be drawn back up to the surface and then it is processed, refined, and shipped

A few of the chemicals include: formaldehyde, acetic acids, citric acids, and boric acids (EarthWorks). This mix of toxic chemicals is considered harmful because the runoff from the fracking process can seep into drinking water and contaminate it. Currently, there aren’t any laws that are regulating the amount of toxic chemicals that can be used in this process. Since 1990, the use of chemicals used in the fracking process has greatly increased, as well as the amount of pressure used to pump the water. In addition, the fracking process increases the amount of methane gas that is present in the atmosphere. When the gas escapes the well, it significantly increased the chance for an explosion, and has even been the cause of small earthquakes. Fracking is also contributing to changes in the climate. Since carbon dioxide gets released during the gas extraction, fracking has been known to cause more greenhouse gas contribution than another other gas extraction method (Brantley,

As stated earlier, fracking uses millions of gallons of water during the fracking process. The first part of the hydrological side starts with large quantities of water being extracted from ground and surface water resources and then taken to the well site to be mixed with chemicals and proppants; which are sand-like substance used to keep underground cracks open during fracking withdrawal. Next, the water mixture is then injected into the well at extremely high pressures, causing the rock to crack and allow oil and gas to escape and be collected at the well opening. After the collection, the water, which is now called wastewater, is treated, recycled, or disposed of, which the gas and oil supplies are sent off for additional testing (EPA, 2015). For fracking to be possible, it is depend on the type of rock that the wells are drilled into. Typically the wells are drilled into areas where shale rock is present. Shale rock is a sedimentary rock that is compiled of mud silt, clay, and organic matter. Shale rock has pores that are filled with a methane rich hydrocarbon gas mixture. These pores make it possible for the high water pressure to break the shale and thus for the release of the gas (Köster, 2013). In addition to the overall positive and negative views of fracking, there are also varying perspectives to be