Will Hydraulic Fracturing

(Fracking) Negatively
Affect the Environment
& Human Beings?
THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA HPS 400
AYANNAH PETERSON
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Yes, Fracking has a negative effect on the Environment.

Drilling Companies began using fracking 70 years ago with the use of water

pressurization. The true definition of fracking is “Hydraulic fracturing or fracking, is a process

that extracts natural gas from rock beneath the earth’s surface.” (Daniel, 2017). The natural gas is

used to be released and captured through stones such as sandstones, shale and limestone that are

formed when dead organisms have been composed and absorbed into the rock. Over the last 80

years since the 1940’s, 1 million American Wells have been fracked. Fracking can have a

negative impact on the environment based on gas production created and the regulations placed.

One of the biggest gas producers and fracking operators is Chesapeake Energy. The have

too many drilling leases with too much land. Landowners without knowledge are giving gas and

oil companies money when gas companies know that they are in violation of the most standard

mortgage agreements due to risk it has for lenders if it were purchase. If they were to go

bankrupt they would most likely have a smaller drilling company and their communities will

take over and have all the remaining debt; which would place a huge burden on the community.

The safety regulations for fracking are not practical and the likelihood that fracking will

be made safe at oil and gas drilling sites are not likely. The consequences are unknown to the

long-term implications of drilling down and horizontally through shale rock one mile each way.

The earth’s structural integrity is unknown when all the liquid and gas is withdrawn. Recently

there has been a loss in stability, in “...The U.S. Geological survey took a look at some

earthquakes that occurred in the vicinity of Youngstown, Ohio. . . They found that the seismic

activity was most certainly manmade and there was no manmade activity in the area except
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fracking.” (Daniel, 2017). When everything in placed into perspective from earthquakes to

contaminated wells to health issues the best defense against fracking is to stop. If fracking were

to continue these issues would persist and get worse.

The use of fracking is having an enormous impact on the environment and it is not safe to

continue drilling into the earth. With the survey completed by the U.S. Geological team it was

found that issues were created in the environment from manmade fracking. The regulations and

gas production need to be found and developed in a different way to save the earth. Clean energy

should have more investors to reduce the amount of fracking. If fracking were to continue there

would an increase in natural disasters, loss of water, and the loss of clean energy due to the

cheapness of fracking.

No, Fracking does not have a negative effect on the Environment.

Fracking rocks such as shale are retrieved through drilling level wells that expand from

vertical wall shafts to the horizontal layers of shale. Fracking has allowed engineers to place

millions in gallons of high-pressure water directly into shale to release that gas that comes from

the fracture. The process of fracking produces inexpensive options for energy and for some

Americans, it is an energy dream come true. Fracking does not have a negative impact on the

environment because there are other things that are far less safe than this and there are economic

benefits to fracking.
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There are a lot of dangerous things in the world and based on the standards of industrial

activity fracking is very safe. An example given was the airline industry. Many things can go

wrong on an Airplane, but people ensure they don’t as a result of this flying is now one of the

safest activities we’ve got. This does not ensure that nothing will happen but with the proper

attention mistakes can be made at a very low level. Fracking gets its bad reputation from the

contamination of drinking water. Underground rivers known as Aquifers are about 100-200 feet

below the surface while the gas producing shale formations are 5,000-6,000 feet below the

surface. To ensure that the water is not contaminated the well that is drilled to pump water and

chemicals through needs to be sealed properly.

The economic benefits of fracking are job production as well as the decrease in energy

costs. Everything we purchase has an energy component to it whether its shipping,

manufacturing or packaging. Since the price of natural gas has decreased “...from $10 or $11 per

thousand cubic feet 10 years ago down to $3.77 now, because the supply that has been released

by this innovative fracking production technique is just so large.” (Daniel, 2017). Due to simple

consequence of supply and demand the pricing has decrease, for example it is the same as oil

prices going from $86 to $21 per barrel. With the decrease in price of natural gas sources there is

more gas available for use.

Fracking provides many benefits to America even though it has a few downfalls. A

source of constant energy is taken from the earth and water can be preserved through the

compliance of the procedures placed. Fracking produces jobs and it is very safe compared to
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other industrialized fields. If fracking would continue the pricing of natural gas would decrease

as well as the addition of jobs to communities.

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References:

Daniel, E. (2017). Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Health and Society (13th ed.).

McGraw-Hill Education.