Ethics of Fracking - Lecture Series Paper

Hydraulic Fracturing or Fracking is a new way of mining for natural gas, which has different impacts on the environment than traditional mining. It involves drilling down into rock and cracking the rock enabling the natural gas to flow through, this is done with pressurized hydraulic water. The digs are quite large and span for miles underground, the tubes through which the natural gas flows are 8000ft underground and sealed with cement so that no gas is able to escape into the soil. The area in which this type of gas can be found is not concentrated but rather all over the country. Therefore the effects, negative and positive of hydraulic fracturing will be felt nationwide. These natural gas power plants produce half as much greenhouse gas, and one third as much nitric oxides than traditional oil mining. It is predicted that by 2035 that 50% of the natural gas in the country will come from shale gas.

Aesthetically, the mines are not pleasing to look at and will each be used to mine gas for 30-50 years. Although the fracking companies’ claim that the mines will not permanently harm the land, many environmentalists are skeptical and worried about potential contamination of the soil around the area where the dig happened, making the land useless after the project.

The water solution that is used to fracture the rock underground also raises a few environmental questions. While the solution is 99% water there is still 1% of the solution that contains carcinogens. Many argue that since the concentration of the chemicals is small that they wont harm anything, however, even some chemicals can be harmful to the environment in quantities as small as 1 ppb. The people that are supportive of fracking may argue that the channel through which the water flows is coated in cement, making it impossible for the water to get out. Objectors would argue that leaks are possible, which could cause the carcinogens to escape, and could cause possible gas spills in addition to water...