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Taylor Williams

Professor McGriff

ENC 1102

3 March 2021

Weighing the Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing

The use of oil and natural gas is universal. It is a commercial phenomenon that is present

in daily life. From fueling one’s car to heating a home, these valuable resources are used. Many

people have jobs that are involved in the process of making these materials available to the

everyday consumer. Oil and natural gas are brought out of the ground by hydraulic fracturing.

This is when materials, such as water, sand, and chemicals, are pressurized into the earth through

drilled chambers to extract these resources from the ground. Although, at the rate oil and natural

gas are being consumed, we will eventually run out. These are fossil fuels, and they are not

renewable. Sustainability is the key to a brighter future, but it is a difficult process of changing

how the world works. Hydraulic fracturing creates jobs and helps with economic independence,

but it contaminates groundwater and destroys land. Therefore, although hydraulic fracturing is

benefiting the economy, its impacts on the environment far outweigh any benefit.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Hydraulic fracturing is also known as fracturing or fracking. Describing a brief overview of the

history and explanation of hydraulic fracturing plays a key role in being able to analyze its

effects. Early forms of fracking have been available as early as the 1860s. However, the process

has evolved since then. For example, injecting materials to accelerate this process was

introduced in the 1930s (Montgomery 2). It is still heavily used today. Since it has been used for
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so long, everything has grown so accustomed to using this technique. Also, the longer the

fracking process is used, the more these nonrenewable resources are being expended.

Hydraulic fracturing is a simple process when broken down. In fracturing, “cracks in and

below the Earth's surface are opened and widened by injecting water, chemicals, and sand at high

pressure. Some resources extracted through fracking are called ‘tight oil’ or ‘tight gas,’ because

these pockets of fossil fuels are tightly trapped in hard shale rock formations” (Sue). Tight oil or

tight gas is when petroleum or gas is contained in impermeable rock. This confines these natural

resources to a specific spot, where people then use fracking pumps and pipes to extract it from

the shale. This has enabled fracking to spread across America. Knowing what hydraulic

fracturing is, one can recognize its impact on the world. The negative environmental impacts

outweigh any economic benefits fracking has.

ECONOMIC BENEFITS AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL

Hydraulic fracturing is a large part of our economy. Natural gas and oil are a huge industry.

Almost every vehicle depends on it. One major role hydraulic fracturing has in our economy is

creating jobs. Fracking creates millions of jobs worldwide. According to Fleisher, “fracked

communities had significant economic gains. They produced an additional $400 million of oil

and natural gas annually three years later, and had increased total income (3.3-6.1 percent),

employment (3.7-5.5 percent), salaries (5.4-11 percent), and housing prices (5.7 percent)”

(Fleisher). This can improve their quality of life by bringing more money and jobs into their

towns. This is a very large difference, and these statistics are approximately normal among most

fracking communities. Although, this is not always the case for every community fracking

enters. Yet, overall, the more fracking sites, the more jobs are needed. This also trickles down
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the line because not only are people being hired to work drilling, but the people who then

transport the oil and sell the oil get jobs as well.

U.S. ECONOMIC INDEPENDENCE

U.S. economic independence is also enhanced with fracking. There is a lot of fracking in places,

such as in the Middle East. Unconventional oil and natural gas are exported from places like this

to the U.S. and it makes the U.S. depend on them for something the U.S. wants. Economic

independence is where a country does not have to rely on other countries for what they need.

This is a benefit to any country’s economy because then they would have more jobs in their

country instead of overseas. This would circulate more money within the U.S., instead of

exporting jobs to other countries. The U.S.’s economy is not having to depend on foreign

countries as much for oil when there are more fracking sites in the country.

This has been backed by research and those who have analyzed this trend. For example,

J.B. Maverick has analyzed this in Investopedia’s "How Has Fracking Decreased U.S.

Dependence on Foreign Oil?” when writing that the:

Total U.S crude oil production roughly tripled in the decade spanning from 2010 to 2020.

Over the same time period, the amount of total U.S. oil consumption provided by imports

fell substantially. While the U.S. remains dependent on foreign oil, it is nonetheless a

very significant reduction in the level of dependence since it means the country is capable

of providing over half of its fuel needs (Maverick).

Decreasing U.S. dependance on foreign oil centralizes the U.S. economy. It centralizes the

economy by keeping more business in the country that can strengthen the economy. Political
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independence for the U.S. can also help us in the future in case there are any diplomatic issues,

where there could be a possible cut off between two countries.

Fracking also affects the economy through stock and investment. According to Energy

and Capital, stocks in hydraulic fracturing projects are increasing and doing well. For example,

the stocks have double within a year in the past for U.S. Silica Holdings Inc., who is associated

with fracking. Also, when people invest in hydraulic fracturing companies, they also invest in

two of its biggest aspects, which are water and sand because these two materials are used at an

abundant rate in this process. Consequently, hydraulic fracturing affects the economy and the

economy of other industries that overlap with it (Kohl). This situation can be compared to the

internet. Hydraulic fracturing would be a major website and there would be many other websites

that would be chemicals, sand, water, the pipes, and the sale of land that are connected to the

main website. This makes it so hydraulic fracturing is such a huge part of the economy even

further than the sale of what it produces as an obvious contributor. Yet, there are renewable

sources of energy that would create an even more stable economy. Therefore, although fracking

is a part of the economy, it is overall damaging it for the future.

WATER CONTAMINATION

On the other hand, one of the major environmental consequences of hydraulic fracturing is that it

can contaminate water. It has been proven that materials involved in the fracking process have

contaminated bodies of water and ground water. Some of these reservoirs are used for drinking

water. Consequently, the water people need to drink can be poisoned and harmful for those who

drink it. One example of this is in North Dakota, where hydraulic fracturing is quite prevalent.

Devastatingly, “fracking produced 19 billion gallons of wastewater in North Dakota in 2018

alone” (Bruess). That wastewater also has sand, and the particles can make the water dirty as
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well. Also, fracking contaminates rivers and other bodies of water in addition to groundwater

that can affect wildlife. This is a problem that affects people and the environment they live in,

which is a problem that might extend into the future if nothing is done about it. Bruess goes on to

state that this contaminated wastewater, produced by fracking, can leak into aquifers, and leak

from landfills, pipelines, and faulty equipment.

This wastewater contains pollutants. For example, “flowback and produced wastewater

can also include chemical additive formulas, with volatile organic compounds such as benzene,

ethylene glycol, methanol, and toluene. Between 2005 and 2013, the EPA [stated that there were]

1,084 chemicals reported in fracking formulas” (Bruess). These are chemicals that are not meant

to be in drinking water. The health effects of some of these chemicals is not even known. For

towns where hydraulic fracturing is abundant, it creates jobs, but it also can poison their water.

Health and safety are more important than more jobs in this field for the families who live

around fracking sites.

One anecdote that had been brought to attention was when a person was concerned about

the safety of their drinking water. She lived in a town where they had fracking nearby. One

significant water pollutant of fracking is methanol. Methanol is a flammable substance. So, they

turned on the sink faucet and held a lighter up to the water. This would test if there was methanol

and other combustible chemicals in their water. The water pouring from the faucet caught fire.

This proved that their water was being contaminated by hydraulic fracturing. Water is not

supposed to catch fire and it is devastating that people are putting fossil fuels above their own

health safety. In all, one negative environmental impact of hydraulic fracturing is that it can

pollute and contaminate water, such as drinking water.

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LAND DAMAGES

One of the major environmental consequences of hydraulic fracturing is that it destroys habitats

and land. This devastation outweighs any economic benefit possible. Hydraulic fracturing well

pads disrupt animals, oil spills occur while exporting oil from fracking sites, and fracking takes

up arable land that should be used for farming. Taking care of the earth is more important than

money. Money can be printed every day, but the earth is forever.

Habitats are being destroyed by hydraulic fracturing. According to Jon Mullen in "The

Truth About Fracking and the Environment”, published by The Wilderness Society in 2021,

“[o]il and gas drilling has serious consequences for our wildlands and communities. Drilling

projects operate around the clock, disrupting wildlife, water sources, human health, recreation

and other aspects of public lands that were set aside and held in trust for the American people”

(Mullen). Mullen goes on to mention how different species are affected by this. The most

obvious reason hydraulic fracturing damages habitats is because of the physical fracking sites.

First, trees must me chopped down so that there is a flat piece of land to build the site on. Then,

there are many trucks driving in and out. Also, there is a lot of noise and pollution from all the

people there.

One side note that is worth mentioning is that the oil exported from fracking is sometimes

transferred on ships and that oil can spill and hurt wildlife. For example, “[j]ust think back to the

explosion of BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. The resulting spill

covered 68,000 square miles of sea surface and killed approximately 1 million coastal and

offshore seabirds, 5,000 marine mammals and 1,000 sea turtles” (Mullen). Without fracking and

the use of unconventional oil, this would not have happened. This needs to change and it can
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because the world has access to renewable sources of energy, so fracking for oil and natural gas

is not even necessary with the right technology and a bit of time.

In addition to these devastations, arable land is becoming unfarmable. Fracking takes

place in many places in the U.S., such as in the Midwest and Texas. Farms in the Midwest is

where a lot of our food comes from. Not having enough land to farm can create a butterfly effect,

leaving it harder to grow enough crops. Not all land is great for farming, so it is vital that this

land is protected and reserved. Hydraulic fracturing sites take up a lot of land, and once they do,

it would be very hard to nurse the land back to health. Due to the drilling, chemicals, and

construction, grass dies and the once beautiful land turns into a wasteland filled with death. The

death of everything green, the very death of the millions of years old organisms that we are

digging up just to burn for an energy that we can get from the sun. This land should be used for

farming to accommodate the growing population, not used to be drilled for oil.

FINAL ASSESSMENT

Hydraulic fracturing is detrimental, and the negative consequences outweigh any positives by a

landslide. Yet, there is still hope. The world knows that there is a better way of harnessing

energy. Renewable energy is the future. There has already been a shift, there just must be an

acceleration of this transfer from unconventional oil by fracking to renewable forms of energy,

such as wind or solar.

More specifically, some other forms of energy are wind, solar, biomass, geothermal, and

hydroelectric energy. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, “Increasing the supply of

renewable energy would allow us to replace carbon-intensive energy sources and significantly

reduce US global warming emissions” (“Benefits of Renewable Energy Use”). Hydraulic

fracturing is how we use crude oil and natural gas. These take millions of years to replenish, and
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the world can run out of them, so they are called unrenewable. Biomass, geothermal, and

hydroelectric energy are much more sustainable and better for the earth. Solar energy and wind

energy are two of the cleanest forms of energy. The life cycle emissions, which include all steps

in the energy process from manufacturing to their use, is not even comparable to that of oil and

gas because it is so much lower. They also produce little to no pollution. Air pollutants, such as

carbon dioxide are emitted from the burning of fossil fuels, which come from fracking, and they

contribute to global warming.

Overall, these are the effects of hydraulic fracturing besides the obvious air pollution, and

unsustainability of fracking. While hydraulic fracturing is how we get oil and natural gas, that is

a big part of the economy, it has many negative consequences towards the environment. The

environmental damages of hydraulic fracturing far outweigh its benefits. So, look forward to the

future and replace hydraulic fracturing with clean and renewable energy sources for a sustainable

economy and, most importantly, the environment.

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Works Cited

"Benefits of Renewable Energy Use". Union of Concerned Scientists, 2017,

https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/benefits-renewable-energy-use?

gclid=Cj0KCQiA1KiBBhCcARIsAPWqoSpjYaWPrZX6HBOjnJrN3yyJu44bOFijMuZa

xJUqWTXLyv5qnnG59y4aAgPfEALw_wcB&utm_campaign=CE&utm_medium=searc

h&utm_source=googlegrants.

Bruess, Elena. “How Fracking Has Contaminated Drinking Water.” Consumer Reports, 3 Dec.

2020, www.consumerreports.org/water-contamination/how-fracking-has-contaminated-

drinking-water/.

Fleisher, Chris. “Weighing the Impacts of Fracking.” American Economic Association, 25 Oct.

2019, www.aeaweb.org/research/fracking-shale-local-impact-net#:~:text=Fracked

%20communities%20had%20significant%20economic,housing%20prices

%20(5.7%20percent).

Kohl, Keith. "Investing in Fracking Stocks". Energy and Capital, 2016, Stocks and Economics

of Hydraulic Fracturing.

Maverick, J.B. "How Has Fracking Decreased U.S. Dependence on Foreign Oil?". Investopedia,

2021, https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/012915/how-has-fracking-helped-us-

decrease-dependence-foreign-oil.asp.
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Montgomery, Carl T., and Michael B. Smith. Hydraulic Fracturing: History of an Enduring

Technology. 7th ed., NSI Technologies, 2013, pp. 2-3,

https://www.ourenergypolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Hydraulic.pdf.

Mullen, Jon. "The Truth About Fracking and the Environment". The Wilderness Society, 2021,

https://www.wilderness.org/articles/article/truth-about-fracking-and-

environment#:~:text=Hydraulic%20fracturing%2C%20or%20%E2%80%9Cfracking

%2C,wild%20landscapes%2C%20and%20threaten%20wildlife.

Sue, Caryl. “How Hydraulic Fracturing Works.” National Geographic Society, 18 Mar. 2013,

www.nationalgeographic.org/media/how-hydraulic-fracturing-works/.