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The Pros And Cons Of Fracking

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There is a famous quote in Spanish that says: “Don’t destroy with your feet what you construct with your hands.” And this is what is being done in Pennsylvania right now. The United States is in the midst of a groundbreaking oil and gas drilling rush brought on by a questionable technology called hydraulic fracturing or Fracking. As a result, there have been several reports of poisoned drinking water, mysterious animal deaths, polluted air, industrial disasters and explosions. Fracking is the process in which natural gas is extracted from shale layers typically thousands of feet deep. These targeted shale aren’t especially permeable, meaning most of the gas is trapped. Drillers blast the rock layers with highly pressurized water containing …show more content…

Development was supported by a landmark study conducted by the Federal Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) in 2004 which found that hydraulic fracturing supposedly posed no threat to underground drinking water supplies. Not long afterwards, hydraulic fracturing was spared from the Safe Drinking Water Act by the Bush administration in the Energy Policy Act of
2005. Since that time fracking has become the new boom industry. (Appalachian Voices, 2013)
Demographics
A study by the Nature Conservancy of fracking infrastructure in Pennsylvania found that well pads average 3.1 acres and related infrastructure. Fracking poses serious threats to the environment and public health. Often, this development occurs on remote and previously undisturbed wild lands. As oil and gas companies expand fracking activities, national parks, national forests and other iconic landscapes are increasingly at risk. (Elizabeth Ridlington,
Fracking by the Numbers 2013, pp. 14-15)

Victims/Cost of the event
Fracking in Pennsylvania is disproportionately situated in poor rural communities, which carry the brunt of associated pollution, according to a new study. The study bolsters concerns that

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Scientists have found methane levels in the surrounding underground water sources are seventeen percent higher than more circumstances ("Pros"). Residents in the areas of gas well sites claim, and actually have video evidence, of holding a hand-held lighter to their sink water and being able to ignite it. If that itself isn't frightening enough, well companies can actually hide the chemicals they use in the process of fracking from the public ("New Yorkers"). The companies use up to six-hundred chemicals in the process, that go into the ground and can affect the water the public drinks but now of them have to be disclosed to the public ("Natural"). Also, the act of fracking can release naturally-occurring radioactive chemicals into well-water that, in other circumstances, could never possibly reach the public's

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In studies done on the Marcellus Shale region of West Virginia and Pennsylvania, the largest natural gas field in the US, it was found that more than 90% of the fracking fluid injected into wells were never removed. A common fracking chemical, benzene, is a human carcinogen known to cause cancer. Another chemical, volatile organic compounds (VOC), easily diffuses into the air, harming workers at the site who breathe in the air. VOCs have also been seen in water sources in percentages that exceeded drinking water standards. Chemicals used in fracking cause a range of problems, from nosebleeds and abnormal skin growth to cancer and birth

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It is Time to Quit Frackin’ Around “Hydraulic Fracturing” has had adverse effects on the environment, the economy, and human life in general. Understanding these effects, and their imprint on the planet Earth and those therein will make things more clear. It is important to know how “fracking” works, and it will bring to light the good, the bad, and the ugly. The truth about fracking is that it is quickly becoming a nightmare for both the environment and humans alike, because there are not enough state or federal policies to help monitor and reduce the pollution it creates. During the second decade of this twenty-first century, the United States has discovered a new type of energy.

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Over the last decade or so improvements in oil welling have led to a growth in different types of oil mining that have re-sparked the environmental debate over oil. These range from oil sands in Canada, Fracking in the United States, and Deep Ocean drilling off the coast of Brazil. This of course has caused a rush to extract these new resources especially with the growing political argument of energy independence and political tensions in the Middle East. This issue is especially important for Pennsylvanians as Fracking is a viable option in the State that has two sides both with logical positions and laws that differ from other states that have similar initiatives. To begin Fracking is a process that mixes chemicals with water and sand injects

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Hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, is a very controversial method of capturing oil and natural gas. It involves shooting a solution of water, sand, and almost 600 chemicals at extreme pressure into underground wells, causing the rock formations to crack. This allows the oil and natural gas to flow more freely, allowing previously trapped resources to be harvested. Fracking is so controversial because the potential monetary gains are enormous, yet the environmental impacts are devastating. The documentary “Gasland”, directed and narrated by Josh Fox, provided first hand insight into the fracking industry.

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Hydraulic fracturing or better known as “Fracking” is one of the many rising topics in Michigan. Fracking is the process of mixing water, proppants, and chemicals together and injecting it at a high pressure down 10,000 feet into the Earth to break shale rocks. This is done to extract hundreds of thousands of natural gases that are used every day. But little do people know it is not only affecting their soil, animals, and natural resources, it is affecting them. Fracking should not be authorized in the state of Michigan because it causes health issues for humans, harms animals, and hurts the environment.

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Fracking corporations are strict to ensure that their methods are safe and effective by regulating the amount of gas escaping from the pipes. Corporations strive to have a flawless vacuum seal, but under the immense pressure of the vacuum, leaks are inevitable. To resolve this dilemma, the fracking industry has appointed engineers to inspect and improve the fracking system. “A 2010 documentary that shows a colorado man setting his kitchen tap on fire with a cigarette lighter. Regulators show that was in fact caused by “Biogenic” gas that had been detected in local groundwater for years and had nothing to do with fracking” (“No Middle Ground in Fracking Debate”).

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Even though hydraulic fracturing allows access to more gas and oil, it should be banned because it uses harmful chemicals, pollutes water, causes earthquakes, and is affecting wildlife. While fracking has been going on for many decades, these last ten years has had a spike in publicity. Accusations of hazardous chemicals being used in the waste-water solution has been flying

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The present general visibility is genuinely negative on fracking. With current issues happening with natural harm from America. In March 2017 Victoria put enactment forbidding fracking until 2020. As can be appeared through the overall population see yet the destruction of this enactment is that potential occupations from fracking won't happen. In spite of the fact that the rewards of this implies more assets and cash can be directed into sustainable power source.

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The CWA gives the basic structure for regulating pollution and water quality for water (Brady, 2012, pg. 48). Under the CWA, “fracking fluids are exempt from classification as pollutants (California Fracking, n.d.).” An amendment to the CWA in 1987, exempted mining operations and facilities that carry out any step associated with oil and gas manufacturing from being regulated (Brady, 2012,

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1638 Words | 7 Pages

“Society is certain to extract more gas and oil due to Fracking,” a quote by Robert Jackson. To add, as more and more Fracking companies extract gas and oil, the higher the chances are to make mistakes. Believe it or not, states that have more quantities of sedimentary shale rock underneath the earth’s surface are going to be primary targets for Oil and gas extraction companies. Companies such as these never think about what they are doing wrong, but instead they are going to be looking for benefits in which they can have the most profit from. Hydraulic Fracturing should not be allowed to take place because chemicals get released out into the earth’s atmosphere, water systems in houses are affected, and civilian property is being taken away.

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2753 Words | 12 Pages

In Gasland, Josh Fox’s documentary concerning natural gas development and hydraulic fracturing, Fox profiles many homes in his quest to determine the effects of this controversial practice (Fox, 2010). Fox encounters groundwater contamination as the primary negative consequence of hydraulic fracturing; many of the homeowners he interviewed had water sources that lit on fire and contained toxic chemicals or needed new water sources entirely (Fox, 2010). However, the oil and gas industry states that the process of hydraulic fracturing is safe with limited cause for concern (Fox, 2010; Mooney, 2011). The controversy surrounding hydraulic fracturing has made it difficult to determine its negative effects. Hydraulic fracturing has not been adequately studied to determine its short- or long-term environmental effects, but as a key component in the US energy industry, it has been, and will continue to be, a source of political controversy and strife.

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For example, “Given too that UGOD (unconventional gas and oil development) is exempt from other federal provisions of the Clean Water Act (CWA), Clean Air Act (CAA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), as well as several Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations related to hazardous waste disposal, the degree of water and soil contamination caused by fracking is largely unknown to the public” (Ladd, Anthony., York, Richard pg. 6). The issue with fracking is that the process can be done in a cleaner matter, yet fracking is exempt from multiple federal environmental regulations and legislation because there isn’t scientific evidence that proves that hydraulic fracturing is dangerous and harms the environment, according to politicians. It is our hope that politicians will review this letter to understand that the EPA has announced its findings that hydraulic fracturing is contaminating the atmosphere and underground water aquifers. During the process of hydraulic fracturing, “3.6-7.2 percent of all methane gas obtained from the fracking process is lost into the atmosphere via the well completion and transportation” (Tollefson). The mining of the well is the main contributer to the 1.9% of released methane emissions, which is why some scientists believe conventional gas is better than fracking for shale gas.

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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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