HYDRAULIC
FRACTURING AND ITS IMPACT
Environmental Studies
Warner Pacific
July 27, 2014
“Over
the past decade, the oil and gas industry has fused two technologies –
hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling – to unlock new supplies of fossil
fuels in underground rock formations across the United States. “Fracking” has
spread rapidly, leaving a trail of contaminated water, polluted air, and marred
landscapes in its wake. In fact, a growing body of data indicates that fracking
is an environmental and public health disaster in the making”. (The Cost of
Fracking, September 20 2012). “Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is the
process of drilling and injecting fluid into the ground at a high pressure in
order to fracture shale rocks to release natural gas inside.” (Dangers of
Fracking, para 1) The fluid injected is a combination of about 600 chemicals; most
of which are considered toxic, sand and water. During the process gas and
chemicals seep into the ground water. Approximately 30-50% of this is
recovered, but the remaining fluid is left in the ground to evaporate and it is
not biodegradable; the water left behind could be contaminated. There have been
over 1,000 cases of water contamination, neurological, sensory and respiratory
damage. Of course there is no way to directly link it to the hydraulic
fracturing. Some basic math estimates show 5 hundred thousand active wells in
the United States, 8 million gallons of water per well, a well can drilled 18
times, which adds up to 72 trillion gallons of water and 360 billion gallons of
chemicals that are needed to run only the current wells. It is true though,
that 3 hundred barrels of gas a day are produced, but at what expense to the
environment?
The northwest does not have nearly as
many wells as other areas in the country. Right now Oregon does not have any
current wells, but a US geothermal company is working on a dormant volcano in the Deschutes
National Forest of central Oregon. In the past the Coos Bay Basin had 9 wells “fracked”,
and evidently there is a potential for more. Two companies have been granted
permits for the Newberry volcano. It is in the early stages of development.
Washington have an exploratory well in the Grays Harbor area, it is about 22
miles east Ocean city.
The Environmental Protection Agency has
areas in their agency in place to ensure the safety and compliance of the
United States. These very basic steps & areas are: laws provide authority for the EPA to
write regulations, regulations explain the technical, operational & legal
details to implement the laws, compliance & enforcement helps companies
meet federal requirements, holds them accountable for violations and policy
& guidance assist the public and businesses to understand the laws. The EPA
is currently working with states to make sure that the extractions do not come
at the expense of public health and the health of the environment.
References
Natural
Gas Extraction - Hydraulic Fracturing. (2014, July 14). Retrieved, from http://www2.epa.gov/hydraulicfracturing
The
Cost of Fracking. (2012, September 20). Retrieved, from http://www.environmentamerica.org/reports/ame/costs-fracking
Where
Does Fracking Happen? (2013, March 5). Retrieved, from http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:Fracking
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