Fracking

Dangers of Fracking

Hydraulic Fracturing, also known as fracking, 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. Scientists are worried that the chemicals used in fracturing may pose a threat either underground or when waste fluids are handled and sometimes spilled on the surface. Extracting gas from shale increases the availability of this resource, but the health and environmental risks are, in my opinion, too high.

Before I get rolling on the impacts of fracking, let me first present you with a little history behind it. Hydraulic fracturing of wells was first introduced in 1947 by Stanolind Oil. 1,000 gallons of naphthenic-acid and-palm-oil-thickened gasoline was injected, followed by a gel breaker, to stimulate a gas producing limestone form at 2,400 ft. Although there wasn’t a tremendous increase in production, this was a start. In 1974, Congress passed the safe drinking water act to protect underground sources of drinking water and the Environmental Protection Agency required Underground Injection Control permits under the SDWA for any injection of a fluid. The Environmental Protection Agency also banned the injection of most hazardous materials and mandated regulation for all injected materials. However, hydraulic fracturing was unhindered by these new regulations because, the same year, the Environmental Protection Agency ruled that it does not fall into these categories because its primary purpose is the extraction of natural gas, and not the injection of hazardous material. I don’t see how recognizing fracking as one automatically rules out the other, but hey, what do I know about environmental law?

Hydraulic fracturing isn’t all bad of course, or else we wouldn’t do it. It has its obvious economic benefits. Fracking has been seen as one of the key methods of extracting unconventional oil and gas...