General Concerns Finally, as with any mining or intensive industry, hydraulic fracturing has the potential for noise and light pollution, and environmental degradation from the construction of the site itself and access roads into increasingly remote areas, amplified erosion from land clearing, and habitat disturbance through the means above or the accidental introduction of invasive species though equipment or soil movement (Rahm and Riha, 2012). Political, Economic, and Social Dimensions Political Dimensions Fracking in Colorado has been the source of much legislation and litigation in recent years. Although, “Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper describes the state’s [fracking] regulation as ‘the most comprehensive and stringent’ in …show more content…
Split estates, where the surface and mineral rights are separated, are common in Colorado due to early 20th century homestead acts that encouraged Western migration by providing cheap land, but allowed the federal or state government to retain mineral rights in order to preserve access to undiscovered mineral resources. These mineral rights were later sold to companies looking to extract the region’s valuable natural gas. This divide is often viewed by landowners as oppressive, because they receive little benefit from fracking operations while assuming most of the risk. Companies mining on a person’s land must compensate them for lost productivity or damage, which is much less than the value of the natural gas that is extracted from the ground. Furthermore, surface owners are often unable to stop development because of the common law, and are left with the altered land after the well stops producing natural gas at an economic rate and the gas company leaves. Properties affected by fracking command higher insurance premiums, and may lose value or become nearly impossible to sell should the surface owner want to move. Moreover, latent or identified land contamination remains on the property long after the company’s responsibility for it expires. However, this antagonistic view towards fracking is not shared by those individuals who have both the surface and minerals rites. Such individuals are able to lease their land to petroleum companies and make a substantial profit off the natural gas extracted. For these people, fracking becomes a valuable income supplement for a relatively small area of land and minimal personal investment (Sangaramoorthy et. al.,