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The Pros And Cons Of Fracking

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The term “fracking” refers to a process in which chemical infused water is pressure injected into a well. The chemical infused pressurized water breaks up layers of earth and releases the natural gas trapped within it. There are a variety of opinions regarding fracking. The most popular seem to be people arguing whether or not fracking is a dangerous process. It is my opinion that fracking is harmful for the environment, and this idea of mine has only been reinforced the more I have learned about fracking. “Ever since America’s earliest oil discoveries, dynamite or nitroglycerin detonations increased a well’s production. Hydraulic fracturing came in 1949. (Wells)” The fracking process has a standing history on American soil. There are people out there who are part of a struggle many people never notice. This is a silent struggle being fought out of the limelight. It is only recently that more and more attention has been given to the issue. The war against fracking has been gaining attention as the number of supporters rise. Among the supporters are many celebrities that are helping to bring the issue into the public eye. …show more content…

The fracking fluid used to break up the shale rock in the earth is composed of lead, mercury, uranium, formaldehyde, and a variety of other harmful chemicals. This chemical cocktail contaminates ground water and often runs into city supply water that is used for drinking. According to the dangers of fracking website, the contaminated water has been related to cases of sensory, respiratory, and neurological damage. Not only does fracking cause damage to our bodies but it also causes damage to the environment. Fracking causes the contamination of groundwater, methane pollution (and impacts climate change), air pollution, waste disposal and many other

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Governments are questioning where they should allow fracking and use in to get natural gases. Fracking is the process of breaking of rocks to release natural gases using drills or explosions. The fracking used today is hydraulic fracking which is the same process but uses pressurized water to break the rocks up. In order for the pipes to not get clogged up by bacteria they use chemicals to kill them. Where the natural gas is found is dug up is thousands of feet below the surface of the earth.

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Fracking is another source of fuel, decreasing a city’s dependency on foreign oil. Fracking doesn’t cost much because it is produced locally. The amount of jobs in the oil industry has almost doubled due to fracking. However, fracking requires between one and eight million gallons of water for each fracking site. This water contains many hazardous chemicals and can possibly contaminate the environment.

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537 Words | 3 Pages

Fracking is a process by which gas and oil are extracted from shale rocks using high temperatures to break rocks apart down a borehole (Fracking and Climate Change, n.d.). It involves drilling down into the earth before a high- pressure water mixture is directed at the rock to release the gas inside (Risky gas drilling threatens health, water supplies, n.d.).The water, sand and chemicals are injected into the rock which enables the gas to flow out into the well (Risky gas drilling threatens health, water supplies, n.d.).This can be carried out vertically or by drilling horizontally to the rock layer (News page: what is fracking and why is it controversial?, n.d.). There are many implications of fracking as it creates huge amount of environmental

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407 Words | 2 Pages

In 1949, Fracking was introduced as a way to obtain oils and fuels. In the following analysis I will outline some controversial issues as well as some benefits of facking. Why do you think that fracking is controversial? When fracking was introduced, the oil and fuel companies saved time and money with these fuels and oils. Analysis

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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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562 Words | 3 Pages

“Fracking” is a slang term that refers to hydraulic fracturing. 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 natural gas. The larger cracks allow more oil and gas to flow out of the formation and into the well, from which it can be extracted. Fracking has many pros, being that assessing the energy in the rocks less dependent on unstable countries such as Venezuela. Using the natural gas to heat our homes and power our houses burn fewer carbon emissions than coal.

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1147 Words | 5 Pages

Despite losing out on the jobs fracking would bring, avoiding the environmental damage was popular with constituents. Residents want cheap energy and jobs, but don’t want to deal with the environmental consequences in their back yard. Urban communities don’t share in the environmental costs of fracking, but get the product. Inequality of natural resources is common among all fossil fuels, but is nearly mitigated by using renewable sources. Regulations should include an externality charge on fracking operations to help level the playing

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Nicolas D. Loris, who is an economist at the Heritage Foundation, claims fracking helps create new jobs “for geologists, engineers, rig workers, truck drivers, and pipe welders”—such as a plant located in Pennsylvania that will generate about 10,000 new jobs—and also helps create more business for hotels and restaurants (“Fracking is not a Public Health Risk,” Chemicals). Using this method of wastewater injections, says Loris, also generates over “600 trillion cubic feet of natural gas… [which] is enough heat to 15 million homes for one year” (“Fracking is not a Public Health Risk, Chemicals). He continues his argument by saying that, with the creation of new jobs, hydraulic fracking increases the U.S. economy and makes natural gas available for vital things such as food processing, pharmaceuticals, and fertilizers (“Fracking is not a Public Health Risk,”

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First, fracking uses enormous amounts of water mixed with many different toxic chemicals to create frack fluid (Fracking’s Environmental Impacts. This fluid is tainted by things that exist naturally in shale such as different kinds of metals and radioactive element (Fracking’s Environmental Impacts). Some of the frack fluid returns to the upper layer of the surface, where it can be dumped or spilled into rivers, streams and other bodies of water. The water that is underground can also be affected by fracking. Gas and frack fluid can seep into underground reservoirs of water.

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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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368 Words | 2 Pages

Fracking is a phenomenon that has taken the world by storm! Hydraulic Fracturing is the procedure of creating fractures in rocks and rock formations by injecting fluid into cracks to force them further open, releasing oil and natural gas. Even though fracking can be very beneficial it also comes with cons. Fracking is a innovative way to get to those fossil fuels from deep down inside the earth that we use on a day to day basis. In source C (Fracking Explained) it describes how energy consumption in the U.S. has risen with no signs of stopping every since the industrial revolution.

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392 Words | 2 Pages

Fracking Fracking is an issue around the world that must stop because it puts air quality at risk, puts water quality at risk, and requires lots of water. Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, refers to the process of injecting liquid at high pressure into subterranean rocks, boreholes, etc., so as to force open existing fissures and extract oil or gas. Fracking can put air quality at risk. Scientist Miriam Rotkin-Ellman has stated that “The health risks from fracking are not limited to what’s in our drinking water—oil and gas operations are also poisoning the air we breathe,” (“Major Health Threats From Fracking”).

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951 Words | 4 Pages

Despite, the human’s constant concerns about the impact of fracking on the environment, human health and other issues, it has been one of the most important innovations for the economy in Northeastern Pennsylvania over the last century. “It’s almost impossible to overestimate the importance of fracking to the natural gas industry and the nation”. The importance of fracking on the economy in Northeastern Pennsylvania is similar to everywhere else in the United States. However, ever since the discovery of this technology, Northeastern Pennsylvania in particular has transformed completely.

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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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For the citizens, “fracking will give them jobs so they can make money and support their families” (Rogowsky). Furthermore, with the addition of fracking “the United States can get about 1.8 trillion barrels of shale (“sedimentary rocks that have rich sources of petroleum and natural gas” (Rogowsky)) a year compared to Saudi

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