Storyboard:

Opening montage of images of nature/beauty

Explanation of fracking through diagrams, explanation by Mrs.
Grimes
Hydraulic fracturing, also referred to as fracking, is a process designed to recover
natural gas from shale rock. It involves drilling into the Earth's shale rock and
injecting a mixture of water, sand, and chemicals to release gas previously
thought to be unreachable.

Halliburton Corporation developed fracking in the 1940s; however, it did not

become a widely used technique of extracting natural gas until more recently.
Today, the U.S. Department of Energy projects shale gas production in the United
States will rise to 12.3 trillion cubic feet by 2030, and fracking could eventually
account for 70% of natural gas development in North America.

The exact process involves using a large drill pipe and passing it through water
aquifers. Once past water aquifers, the pipe travels downwards 4,000 to 8,500 feet
to reach the shale rock. As the pipe reaches the shale, it changes direction from
vertical to horizontal and drilling occurs laterally. A small electrical charge is than
sent to detonate small charges that fracture the shale rock. A chemical mixture is
then pumped into the fractures, freeing natural gas.

The chemical mixture used for fracking contains over 2,500 additives, including
more than 650 known carcinogens, which are substances capable of causing
cancer. And this isnt that dangerous when its just being used for industry, but the
problem is that its not be managed correctly. And its leaking into the
groundwater.

Groundwater Contamination:
Duke University confirmed findings of dangerous levels of methane in water
supplied within one kilometer of natural gas wells where fracking has occurred. In
one town in Killdeer, North Dakota, an aquifer was pierced during fracking and
the entire town was left without drinking water.

People are concerned. In 2010, New York Governor David Paterson halted all
hydraulic fracturing until new regulations are enacted to protect water sources and
provide better oversight because he was so concerned about contamination. (news
clip?)

Air Emissions:
Fracking is also linked to air emissions. When a well is initially fracked and the
gas first comes to the surface, if it is vented directly to the atmosphere
instead of being captured and recovered, those nearby may be
exposed to dangerous concentrations of toxic pollutants, such as
benzene.
 My daughter, Lexi, we knew something was wrong when her
hands turned blue. And she started getting nose-bleeds and odd
bruising, and when I took her to the toxicologist, I was told her
symptoms were characteristic of benzene poisoning from fracking.

Seismicity:
Fracking also causes an increase in permeability of shale rock and disturbs fault lines,
causing earthquakes to occur. To put this in perspective, Oklahoma is an area where the
fracking industry is booming and earthquake activity should be minimal because it rests
on no major fault lines or plate boundaries, yet the state experienced 190 earthquakes
above a 3.0 seismicity in 2014, while California, an area known for having numerous
earthquakes, only experienced 71.

Refute "Positive" Effects

o Interview:

People like fracking because they believe the positive outweighs

the negative. 84% of U.S. energy consumption is supported by
oil, gas, and coal and fracking helps support this, causing the
U.S. become more energy independent.
Fracking has also been reported to reduce the trade deficit because it has
increased the U.S.'s role as an exporter of energy sources. However, further study
by the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations has
concluded fracking only has a short-term effect of a .4% increase in GDP. Due to
natural gas being a nonrenewable resource, it is highly unlikely fracking will
make a substantial contribution to GDP growth in the future.
Fracking is also argued to have lowered greenhouse gas emissions in the United
States because natural gas is the cleanest burning fossil fuel, but a 2011 study led
by Robert Howard of Cornell University found otherwise.
Research concluded that the carbon footprint of shale will be greater than
that of oil, coal, and conventional gas over a 20 year period.

Fracking can also provide an income to some families who lease

some of their land to energy companies. These gas leases give
companies the right to extract natural gas from under the property. The contracts
are frequently under explained. Homeowners experience adverse effects from the
fracking on their property, and many have found the water supply to their homes
contaminated.
One family in Dimock, Pennsylvania leased some of their property to a fracking
company and one day, found the water from their faucet was flammable. The
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection proved that it was because
of fracking.
Regulators Inspection:
The regulators who inspect fracking wells supervise management and ensure state plans
are followed and maintained. However, due to the exponential growth of fracking, a large
number of wells are left unchecked for years, and prioritization of inspection can prevent
various wells from being effectively regulated. In Texas, there are 273,660 fracking wells
and only 106 regulators to supervise their management and safety. Then, in West Virginia,
there are 52,222 active wells and only 17 inspectors, meaning regulators would have to
inspect 9 wells per day without taking off weekends or vacations to inspect each one. The
limited number of regulators provided by the state government creates the possibility of
increased risk from fracking operations.

Energy Policy Act: D.C.

The Safe Drinking Water Act sets "requirements for proper well siting, construction, and
operation to minimize risks to underground sources of drinking water." Fracking is
excluded from this by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Fracking is also excluded from the
Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act, meaning it is exempt from all federal regulation.

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 also allows the ingredients in fracking's chemical mixture
to be considered proprietary information, so corporations are not required to disclose the
exact chemicals contained in the mixture. This presents a risk to the public.

Court Case:

In the court case, Dr. Alfonso Rodriguez, M.D. v. Secretary of Pennsylvania

Department of Environmental Protection of Pennsylvania; Chairman of The Public

Utility Commission; Attorney General Of The Commonwealth Of Pennsylvania

A doctor, Alfonso Rodriguez, asserted that direct or indirect contact with fracking fluid is
detrimental to health and proper treatment for exposure requires knowing the chemicals
contained in the fracking fluid. Rodriguez filed for the ingredients in the fracking
chemical mixture to be made public so that he and other health professionals could more
effectively treat their patients. Currently, doctors operate under "medical gag rules" where
in non-emergency situations, fracking companies only have to provide the proprietary
ingredients when a confidentially agreement is signed and a written statement of need is
submitted, and in emergency situations, a verbal confidentiality agreement must be made.
This takes away valuable time, and as Rodriguez argues, in order to effectively protect
themselves, people must be made aware of what they are exposed to. Rodriguez's case
was dismissed because he did not allege any specific situation where he needed this
information to treat his patients. However, there is a reported case in Colorado of an ER
nurse treating a worker who was splashed in the face by hydraulic fracturing fluid and a
week later was suffering from multiple organ failure and in critical condition after being
exposed to same fracking fluid that was on the worker she treated. The nurse's doctors
could not help her because they did not know what chemicals were in the fluid soon
enough.

The FRAC Act was introduced to the House of Representatives on March 17, 2015. It

was proposed to amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to include hydraulic fracturing

under the Safe Water Drinking Act. The bill is sponsored by democratic Senator, Robert

Casey of Pennsylvania, an area where the fracking industry is present. Neither the House

nor the Senate have voted on this proposed legislation.

Public Opinion:

Americans who are aware and informed of hydraulic fracturing favor stricter regulation.

A national poll by Bloomberg News in 2012 found that more than three times as many

people said more regulations are needed as opposed to fewer for fracking ("Americans

Favor Stricter Regulations for Fracking," 2015).

Mark Boling, executive Vice President for Houston-based Southwestern Energy, reacted

to the poll results in an interview. PLAY CLIP IF POSSIBLE

We have been so focused as an industry on figuring out how to crack the

code and get these huge volumes of gas trapped in shale formations. We

haven't focused on the things we have to do differently above ground.

("Americans Favor Stricter Regulations for Fracking," 2015)

In addition, reputable surveyor Gallup reported in 2015 that opposition to fracking in the

U.S. was 40%. In 2016, opposition raised 15% to 51% opposition to fracking in the U.S

(Gallup, 2016). Gallup has concluded with only a 4% margin of error that "opposition to

hydraulic fracturing...has increased significantly in the past year...even though the

procedure has helped keep oil prices low" (Gallup, 2015).

http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2016/11/16/living-in-the-shadow-
of-fracking/

The process of hydraulic fracturing creates large amounts of wastewater. This wastewater
has been found to be radioactive because of naturally occurring uranium, radium, radon,
and thorium being dislodged during fracking (Jain, 2015). This presents yet another risk
because disposal of wastewater involves either injecting it back underground or trucking
it away to be treated. In 2011, the New York Times reported that treatment plants in
Pennsylvania, overwhelmed by fracking wastewater that could not be fully treated,
discharged water containing radioactive waste into the Monongahela and Susquehanna
rivers, which together provide drinking water to nearly 7 million people

The impact of fracking on the environment also affects people's health. Birth defects,
cancer, and disorders involving the nervous system are linked to fracking ("Gasland the
Movie," n.d.). Concerns are so significant that former Democratic Presidential
Candidate, Bernie Sanders, called for an outright ban of hydraulic fracturing in his
campaign platform