In the United States, fracking is used to extract oil. Fracking is the process of inserting toxic liquids at high pressure into rocks to crack open the gas or oil. This process can pollute our everyday sources, such as our water, air, and soil. It exposes us to toxic chemicals and also risks the safety of workplaces. Hydraulic fracking is profitable, but it is negatively impacting the surroundings in the United States. Fracking will be a hefty complication to our environment and we need to focus on whether it will be best for the environment, and if it’s not then it needs to be solved.
Fracking will pollute a lot of the Earth’s natural resources, such as water. In the article, “8 Dangerous Side Effects of Fracking That the Industry Doesn’t Want You to Hear About.” by Reynard Loki, it shows evidence about the pollution caused by fracking. Chemicals, water, and sand get pumped at high pressures into wells so the natural gas can be released. Water is a central source for humans and the fracking process uses “More than 90 percent of the water used in fracking well never returns to the surface. Since that water is permanently removed from the natural water cycle, this is bad news for drought-afflicted or water-stressed states” (Loki). It’s using up most of our water and contaminating it so we cannot reuse the water. Since the water is being wasted and being used up on chemicals, it isn’t worth the hassle. In another article, “Fracking’s Environmental Impacts: Water.” it goes in depth about the water pollution. “In 2010, the U.S. EPA estimated that 70 to 140 billion gallons of water were used to fracture just 35,000 wells in the United States” (Greenpeace). Billions of gallons of water are being wasted and infected with chemicals, and because of this we can’t reuse the water from hydraulic fracking. Gas companies can argue that the chemicals in the water can’t reach the groundwater supplies. Yet again, some environmentalists say that if the fracking process is done poorly, it can reach the surface and groundwater.
The disposal of the fracking fluid is not being put away properly. When it isn’t put away properly, it causes contamination within the wells they were drilled in. “When a well is hydraulically fractured, somewhere between 18 and 80 percent of the frack fluid injected into the well will return to the surface. This water, called “flowback” is heavily contaminated by the chemical mixtures that comprise the frack fluid, as well as dissolved salts and heavy metals from deep within the earth.” (Greenpeace). This shows how the flowback makes its way back to the surface, which causes contamination. This type of polluting can greatly impact rivers, groundwaters, and downstream water treatment plants. After all of this damage caused on the water supply, people are still fracking.
Air pollution is another effect of fracking in the United States. Even the transportation of materials required for fracking to the area cause pollution in the air. “A number of other air contaminants are released through the various drilling procedures, including construction and operation of the well site, transport of the materials and equipment, and disposal of the waste.” (Hoffman). All of these chemicals and fuels not being treated properly is destructive to the environment and to the people that live in that environment. “The Associated press recently reported that Wyoming’s air quality near rural drilling sites is worse than Los Angeles’–with Wyoming ozone levels recorded at 124 parts per billion compared to the worst air day of the year for Los Angeles, at 114 parts per billion. The Environmental Protection Agency’s maximum healthy limit is 75 parts per billion.” (Hoffman). The drilling areas have a drastic increase in the ozone levels and is past the maximum healthy limit. This is not only bad for the atmosphere, but it’s also not healthy for the people.
For the most part, fracking causes more pollution than power plants. Another article, “Fracking’s Total Environmental Impact Is Staggering, Report Finds.” by Samantha Page is about the waste being released into the air because of fracking. “Newly fracked wells released 2.4 million metric tons of methane in 2014 — equivalent to the annual greenhouse gas emissions of 22 coal-fired power plants.” (Page). According to Page, fracked wells release way more methane than power plants into the air. Methane is one of the biggest causes to climate change and generally, fracking is causing climate change. “Crystalline silica, in the form of sand, can cause silicosis (an incurable but preventable lung disease) when inhaled by workers.” (Hoffman). Not only does fracking pollute the air, but it also affects the workers that are drilling. The polluted air they breathe can risk them of having a lung disease.
Soil pollution and oil spills are another dilemma occurring from hydraulic fracking. The article “Soil, Water Contamination In North Dakota From Fracking Spills.” by Daniel Kelly has soil pollution and oil spill data. “Soil at the spill sites was contaminated with radium, a naturally occurring radioactive element found in brines, which chemically attached to the soil after the spill water was released.” (Kelly). The drilling has contaminated the soil which makes it useless because you cannot grow crops on polluted soil. Another example is “At one site, the researchers were still able to detect high levels of contaminants in spill water four years after the spill occurred.” (Kelly). This detail exposes how the spill was still contaminated, even a few years later it wasn’t disposed of properly. This is how soil pollution is harming the environment and that the spills aren’t being cleaned, even after a few years from the drilling.
There have been many oil spills going on and none of them are being cleaned or taken care of. For example “…oil companies reported over 1,000 oil spills in North Dakota, 2011, with many more going unreported…” (Hoffman). This detail shows how there have been many oil spills in North Dakota and there has been more not being reported. Another example is “the amount of chemically tainted soil from drilling waste increased nearly 5,100 percent over the past decade, to more than 512,000 tons last year.” (Hoffman). This example is explaining that the chemical levels in soil are raising and they’re not beneficial to the environment. These levels are also harmful to the people that drill for the gas.
Not only does fracking pollute the environment, it causes earthquakes. For instance “over the last seven years, geologically stable regions of the U.S., including parts of Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma and Texas, have experienced movements in faults that have not moved in millions of years.” (Loki). Loki explains that areas that have never experienced earthquakes before are having them now because fracking has caused it. “…the executive branch admitted that fracking causes earthquakes, the state’s lawmakers, evidently unmoved by the trembling ground, passed two bills, backed by the oil and gas industry, that limit the ability of local communities to decide if they want fracking in their backyards.” (Loki). This shows that fracking causes earthquakes, but people can still decide if they want to take the risk of fracking and have earthquakes more often than usual.
To summarize, fracking causes water, air and soil pollution, oil spills and earthquakes. It’s the process of inserting chemical and toxic liquids at high pressures to receive natural gas from wells. Fracking isn’t too good for the environment, so it shouldn’t be happening. Fracking is something that can be controlled but it is not being controlled because many people don’t know the harmful effects of fracking. Whatever damages the environment damages the people in the long run because the environment is the home of all things.
References
- “Fracking’s Environmental Impacts: Water.” Greenpeace USA Frackings Environmental Impacts Water Comments. Greenpeace, Web.
- Hoffman, Joe. “Potential Health and Environmental Effects of Hydrofracking in the Williston Basin, Montana.” Case Studies. Web.
- Kelly, Daniel. “Soil, Water Contamination In North Dakota From Fracking Spills.” Environmental Monitor. 12 May 2016. Web.
- Loki, Reynard. “8 Dangerous Side Effects of Fracking That the Industry Doesn’t Want You to Hear About.” Alternet. Alternet, 28 Apr. 2015. Web.
- Page, Samantha. “Fracking’s Total Environmental Impact Is Staggering, Report Finds.” ThinkProgress. Web.