Water Contamination Caused By Hydraulic Fracturing

Few issues have recently gotten as much attention as the energy extraction activities involving a controversial procedure called "fracking." As reports of drinking water becoming tainted with fracking fluid flood the news, both oil and gas companies as well as environmental groups are presenting competing "facts" about the effects of drilling on ground water.

The practice of Hydraulic fracturing, or releasing a mixture of water, sand, and various chemicals into wells dug beneath the earth to unlock its natural gas has become a very controversial issue (Earthworks ). For some, the practice means new forms of energy in the U.S. and thousands of new jobs. While others have pointed to the connections between the release of chemicals into the environment and the contamination of water supplies. Other studies have linked this new technology to air pollutants and an increase in earthquakes due to disturbances in the earth’s shell. All of these issues and concerns point to a need for further regulations to diminish these negative effects on the environment.

Hydraulic fracturing in combination with advancement in directional drilling has made it possible to economically extract oil and gas from unconventional resources. The growth in U.S. oil and gas exploration and production made possible by the increase in use of hydraulic fracturing, has raised concerns about its potential to impact human health and the environment. Concerns have been raised by the public about the effects of hydraulic fracturing on quality and quantity of drinking water resources. The hydraulic fracturing water cycle includes five main activities: the withdrawal of ground or surface water needed for hydraulic fracturing fluids; the mixing of water, chemicals, and proppant on the well pad to create the hydraulic fracturing fluid; the injection of hydraulic fracturing fluids into the well to fracture the formation, the return of injected fluid and water produced from the formation to the surface; and the reuse, treatment and disposal of wastewater generated at the well pad, including produced water (U.S. EPA, 2015). With the water cycle being so massive and prolonged, the presence of potential negative impacts is greatly increased.

Hydraulic fracturing is a process used in nine out of 10 natural gas wells in the United States, where millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals are pumped underground to break apart the rock and release the gas. Scientists are worried that the chemicals used in fracturing may pose a threat either underground or when waste fluids are handled and sometimes spilled on the surface. The natural gas industry defends hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking, as safe and efficient. Thomas J. Pyle, president of the Institute for Energy Research, a pro-industry non-profit organization, claims fracking has been “a widely deployed as safe extraction technique,” dating back to 1949. What he doesn’t say is that until recently energy

Shale gas is a remarkable deposit of natural gas that is largely untapped because of the difficulty in obtaining it. Advanced petroleum extraction technics has made this untapped natural gas more lucrative. Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) is the advanced technic of extracting gas from shale rock formation. The environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing have surpassed the endurance afforded it. This paper discusses the impact of fracking, the challenges of wastewater management, with a focus on the legal and regulatory hurdles associated with the practice of underground injection of wastewater, and ways in which the government through policies can curb the concerns.

Fracking is a technique used to collect gas and oil from shale rock, however, groundwater and rivers are contaminated in the process. Fracking being one of the leading techniques, several companies use this method such as ExxonMobil, Chevron, and BP to obtain oil as well as gas, “Hydraulic fracturing is used for oil and/or gas production in all 33 U.S. States where oil and natural gas production takes place. According to industry estimates, hydraulic fracturing has been applied to more than 1 million wells nationwide” (“Hydraulic Fracturing Overview: Growth of the Process and Safe Drinking Water Concerns”). That being said, such companies have thousands of locations around the United States, which contaminates water all around the country. Fracking refers to the process of injecting the ground with a high-pressure mixture of water directed to shale rock to break it, causing the gas to flow out of the well, often times done in a horizontal manner.

Swarm, Frack F. "Fracking and Water Pollution." - SourceWatch. Fracking and Water Pollution, 26 Aug. 2015. Web. 31 Aug. 2015.With the public worried about a lot of water being used in fracking, oil and gas drilling. Some of the companies have begun to reusing and recycling the usedwater. The natural-gas company uses many different ways of recycle drilling wastewater. Some of the drillers have used recycling equipment at the well site or has been shipped to a water recycling facility. When the water is received the used water is then filtered, evaporated, and then distilled. It will then be used again at the well. Other companies may add some fresh water to the used water, to dilute the salts and other contaminants,

Hydraulic Fracking is an oil and gas extraction process used in the past 60 years. The process consists of drilling the underground until reach a shale layer, and them a high-pressure fracking fluid is injecting in this hole to fracture the rock underground, which will provide oil and gas to be extracted. As a huge extraction process it requires large quantities of water, sand and chemicals, which are to produce the fracking fluid, and in most of the cases all this water and chemicals are through away causing a huge environmental impacts. Although, all those environmental issues, the oil and gas industry will not stop its production due to it high productivity and cost benefit, so alternative processes have been developed to treat this water and chemicals used in the fracking process. The purpose of this report is to analyse the effectiveness and viability of those methods.

While there are many benefits to fracking, there are likewise many concerns. First, recent studies have demonstrated that increased development of shale gas may hasten climate change because enormous quantities of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that constitutes more than ninety percent (90%) of shale gas, leak during fracking. On a global scale, methane emissions from drilling and fracking production sites cause substantial greenhouse emissions which threaten our climate (Zott). The global warming capability of methane is approximately 33 times that of carbon dioxide in a 100-year block of time and 105 times that of carbon dioxide in a 20-year time frame (Jeffers). Drinking water sources have also been tainted with such explosive methane,

left undeveloped and wasted, it was once considered “unusable” and “worthless”, compared to oil. In order to try to break our country’s dependence on foreign oil supplies, we have begun to dip into our own natural gas supply. Natural gas is found underground, and is produced when trapped gas is released above ground. Hydraulic fracturing or fracking is a process that extracts natural gas from the ground. As harmless as the billion dollar producing oil companies would want us to believe, environmental groups, scientists, and average citizens have raised concerns about the negative impact of hydraulic fracking on the environment and

Fracking or hydraulic fracturing has grown in popularity over the years. Fracking is the process of directing bursts of sand, water, and chemicals underground to obtain accessibility to oil and natural gas. This action has become rewarding but there are many environmental, social, and economic pros and cons that must be addressed. Because of fracking, there is an increased dependency on natural gas versus the past dependency on coal. This produces health benefits because burning natural gases versus coal produces less dangerous particles in the air. The natural gas produced through fracking releases less greenhouse gas emissions than the production of coal would release. This is a benefit of hydraulic fracturing. However, it is found that methane

The main environmental effects that hydraulic fracking could have on a local environment are largely, ground water contamination, aesthetic appeal, and the risk of a seismic activity increase in the local area. All three of these issues would, clearly, have a negative impact on a local environment. The contamination of ground water is a legitimate question to ask and concern to be addressed. When comparing conventional oil drilling to non-conventional oil drilling in terms of water contamination, the unconventional method of fracking looks to be safer. The drilling of fracking is much deeper within the earth than more conventional drilling methods. There are several impermeable levels of rock and material that prevents gas and oil from reaching the water table. With conventional drilling, there is an impermeable level of rock between the gas and oil pocket, however, it is much closer to the water table than the location of the fracking. Even though the actual location of the extraction of the oil and gas is generally further from the water table, studies have shown that it is probable that water can still be contaminated through fracking. “The authors of the PNAS study conclude that the contamination they document is likely the result of “… poor well construction.” This quote suggests that the reason for the contamination in the ground water is because of poor construction of wells due to demand and production rates. Another view comes from

Hydraulic fracturing growth has brought oil and gas development closer to backyards and communities and increased the potential for human exposure to new pollutants and threats. While health debates have focused on drinking water contamination, there is increasing evidence for a range of health threats from air pollution as

“Accidents, spills, and leaks have polluted rivers, streams and drinking-water supplies to unsafe levels. Hydraulic fracturing is exempt from key federal water protections, and federal and state regulators allowed unchecked expansion of fracturing, creating widespread environmental degradation. Due to inadequate numbers of state and federal inspectors wells go without inspection or oversight. (Thompson, "Hydraulic Fracturing Should Be Banned." n. pg.) Substandard well encasements failed and the toxic chemicals and gas seep into the water table. A study by Duke University showed the following results “They found that, on average, methane concentrations were six times higher and ethane concentrations were 23 times higher in samples from homes within a kilometer of drilling. “The methane, ethane and propane data, and new evidence from hydrocarbon and helium content, suggest that drilling affected homeowners’ water,” said Robert B. Jackson, a professor of environmental sciences at Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment. (Thomas H. Darrah n. pg.) Filling, emptying, and loading trucks with waste-water stored in open pits adjoining the well, to point out, creates potential for leaks and spills when disconnecting and connecting discharge lines. With little or no oversight, not reporting incidents, resulting, in behavior that does not try to prevent future incidents and dismisses reporting them

Hydraulic fracturing has a down side due to the environmental impacts it causes while doing the process of drilling natural gas and oil production. Most of the population in the United States have concerns about hydraulic fracturing that affects the water quality of many residents. According to David J. Lampe, “Numerous complaints of drinking water quality degradation following the arrival of gas drilling activity exist in all states where hydrological fracturing occurs, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is investigating suspected water contamination events in Wyoming and Pennsylvania.” The residents from those states are drinking water that is being contaminated due to the fact that companies from oil and gas production operate