Fracking Research Paper

Words: 1447

Pages: 6

Open Document

Fatigue, burning eyes, skin irritation, headaches, upper respiratory problems. These are just a few of the health issues experienced by those living in the vicinity of fracking sites. Fracking, which is the slang for hydraulic fracturing, is a the process of drilling into deep tight-rock shale formations to unearth previously unavailable energy sources such as natural gas and oil. As the EEC Environmental company website explains: “The fracking process involves pumping water, chemicals and sand (proppant) slurry at high pressure into a well, which fractures the surrounding rock formation and props open passages, allowing natural gas to more freely flow from rock fractures to the production well” (Brief History n.pag). This process obtaining …show more content…
Oil and gas industry scientists contend that the risk for contamination is low. “The shale layers can be a mile or more deep, separated from shallow aquifers by thousands of feet of rock” (qtd. in Mooney, 2011). While this conclusion may appear true on the surface, it assumes that only one borehole is being drilled on a site, when in fact most sites are riddled with multiple boreholes of various depths. Mooney of Scientific American explains, “To maximize access to the gas, companies may drill a dozen or more vertical wells, closely spaced, at a single site” (2011). This fact alone results in the previous statement being misleading at best and down right lying at worst. “Imagine this Swiss cheese of boreholes going down thousands of feet -- we don’t know where they are” (qtd. in Mooney, 2011). Mazes of fractured ground such as these could release a number of contaminants into surrounding aquifers.
One such contaminant is methane, and while methane is a naturally occurring gas trapped within pockets of bedrock, the fracking process releases large amounts into surrounding groundwater supplies. Researchers in Pennsylvania found that the “average methane level was 17 times higher in private drinking wells within one kilometer, or about 3,280 feet, of active drilling sites, compared with those in non drilling areas” (McDermott-Levy et al, 45). Methane accumulations at these levels could lead to suffocation in the worst case scenario,

Fracking Research Paper

Fracking is a major method of production for natural gas in the United States today. Currently there are more than 106,132 hydraulic fracturing wells operating in the United States (FracFocus). Although hydraulic fracturing has many benefits a large percentage of the populous regards it as environmentally detrimental and unsafe. This is largely in part due a biased media and popular citizens who are uneducated in the subject of fracking stating negative left-wing views. The negative attributes of…

Words 785 - Pages 4

Fracking Research Paper

ENG 111 February 22nd, 2018 Let’s get fracking What exactly is fracking what are the dangers of fracking to the environment and to public safety? The fracking process is one that consists of drilling into the soil and injecting water simultaneously. The only problem that comes with it is most of the drills are being used to drill oil and oil and water do not mix. The contaminates that are absolved during the process is where the concern lies. The Fracking process is one in which the drilling…

Words 990 - Pages 4

Fracking Research Paper

What were they protesting? They were protesting, through a roadblock, the illegal exploration of fracking by the big oil company SWN. How many people here know what Fracking is? Ok, for those who are not familiar let us explain. What is it? Fracking Aka Hydraulic fracturing is a process to extract natural gases and oils located deep beneath the earth in shale rock formations. Before Fracking these gases and oils were nearly impossible to extract. So what does this process look like? Firstly…

Words 968 - Pages 4

Fracking Research Paper

Although fracking offers several benefits to the economy, reports and claims of side effects linked to health related and environmental issues continue to rise. Hydraulic fracturing, also known as “fracking” is the process of drilling into the earth and releasing a water mixture with high pressure. The water mixture causes gas to release from the rock. The mixture contains water, sand and chemicals. Generally, the process is performed vertically by drilling horizontally into the layers of rock.…

Words 897 - Pages 4

Fracking Research Paper

ban fracking completely. Many people oppose fracking because of the possible environmental impact it could have because of the amount of water needed for the process and the chemicals used that could potentially contaminate drinking water. I believe that using hydraulic fracturing in the United States, when closely monitored and carefully regulated, is essential for the country to become more energy independent and can provide a boost to our economy. Hydraulic fracturing, also called fracking, is…

Words 1297 - Pages 6

Fracking Research Paper

Hydraulic fracturing or fracking is a well stimulation technique in which rock is fractured by a pressurized liquid. Fracking requires blasting huge amounts of water, sand and chemicals deep into underground rock formations for the purpose of extracting oil and natural gas. Fracking can result in severe environmental impacts and public health threats. For example, the fracking process can lead to induced earthquakes which are unpredictable. Other risks to local communities in which these drilling…

Words 441 - Pages 2

Fracking Research Paper

Costs Some costs associated with fracking include the large amount of water required to crack a single well and the toxic chemicals that have to be pumped into the rock formations to crack the surface. Fracking also produces greenhouse gases which affects the environment negatively. There has been reported tectonic impact of the disposal wells that lead to minor earthquakes in the nearby settlements. This is disastrous as it may lead to loss of lives and destruction of buildings. Water contamination…

Words 1239 - Pages 5

Fracking Research Paper

fracturing, commonly called fracking, is a drilling technique used for extracting oil or natural gas from deep underground and has been around for over 60 years. A common question asked about frackinging is whether it should be used to release oil and natural gas? Fracking should not be used to release oil and natural gas. It is a harmful to our surroundings despite our need for the fuel down below.Fracking is used to extract oils and natural gas; that is the point to fracking. According to source A…

Words 318 - Pages 2

Research Paper On Fracking

Fracking: A Key to Energy Independence? The world has an increasing population and energy needs to be produced to support each and every one. United States of America has taken several steps into making the access to this resource at an effective cost and cleanest way possible. Coal plants and nuclear plants have been the way to go for a long time. Recently such tragedies that happened in Japan with nuclear power plants and coal mining in Virginia interfering with health and polluting the atmosphere…

Words 515 - Pages 3

Fracking Research Paper

Hydraulic fracturing also known as fracking is the process of removing once unattainable natural gas from Shale formation deep underground. The fracking process was developed by hilliburton in 1940s asa techrique to stimulate gas well produced. This improves fluid flow from rocks in the surface. After the fracking job, the pressure in the well is dropped and the water containing released natural gas flows back to the well head at the surface. Cracking is a thermal decomposition process by which…

Words 533 - Pages 3