Against Fracking - Essay Example

Against Fracking Fracking, also known as hydraulic fracking, is a method used reach up for natural gas far below the earth’s surface. It involves the use of millions of gallons of water, mixing it with large quantities of chemicals such as carcinogens which are later pumped underground at an intense pressure to break up the rock structure to release oil and gas (Greeley & Stone, p8) This method has been there for so long; however the techniques, technologies and chemicals used to reach the new inaccessible gas reserves are more rigorous and riskier than the conservative gas drilling (Greeley & Stone, p12). The desire to reach to this natural gas has created uncontrolled ecological and economical problems to the rural communities (Gale Cengage Learning, p110). This has come about due to the leaks and accidents that have polluted the rivers, streams and drinking water supplies. The regions where these activities are carried out are characterized by high levels of smog and at the same time the airborne pollutants such as carcinogens. The rural persons face a lot of ambush of heavy truck traffic usually overloaded with the hazardous chemicals used in drilling (John & Sons, p35). Most parts of New York is targeted by the oil and gas industry especially Marcellus Shale. This part underlies most part of New York. In reality, there is no doubt that natural gas extraction does have a lot of unconstructive consequences for local environment in which it occurs in any fossil fuel extraction. The fact that fracking allows people to put the carbon that is down beneath our feet into the atmosphere adds up the problems of green house effect leading to global warming. Despite the fact that most of the sandstones, limestone and shale far below the earth surface contain very large amounts of natural gas that was formed by the decomposed dead organisms and that these gas can be released and captured for our use while such rocks are drilled the effects of this activities should be assessed in terms of their pros and cons based on the empirical facts or evidences and more so on other available sources of energy (John & Sons, p48). Based on this some of the facts about fracking in Pennsylvania is the fact that it is a method used to extract natural gas implanted within shale rock far below the earth surface. The Marcellus Shale assembles underneath huge sections of the Upper Delaware River watershed region and across a great swath of land in Northern, Western and South Central Pennsylvania. Second is that low volume, vertical fracking has been done for a very long since time in memorial in Texas and the Western United States, however High Volumes, Hydraulic slick-water Fracturing was innovated and put into practice by Range Resources in the year 2003 (Greeley & Stone, p106). Third is that this method requires the use of large amount of toxic and hazardous chemicals, put together with water and sand, infused deep underground using horizontal-drilling machines which then breaks the shale rocks into pieces and as a result the natural gas is released together with the natural containments and even Uranium that are often radioactive. Fifth is that it for this activity to take place it requires very large amounts of fresh water of about 1-18 million gallons per well and to get these natural gas it may require re-fracking for about 18 times. Next is that the frack well can go further under the earth surface for about a mile from the wellbore. The seventh fact is that the companies that are associated with the gas production are exempted from sections of the Safe Drinking Water Act (1974), the Clean Air Act of (1970) and the Clean Water Act (1972) due to the loophole put into the Energy Policy Act (2005) referred to as The Halliburton Loophole (Greeley & Stone, p120) Eight is that the FRAC (Fracking Responsibility and Awareness to Chemical Act) is a House bill that was intended to restructure the Halliburton Loophole and to make sure that the industries that are associated with gas production discloses the chemicals that they use in their fracking process (Greeley & Stone, p38). Next is that water produced after the fracking process as waste is referred to as the ‘Frack Water’ and this is usually produced in a very large amount and this bi-product contains a lot of chemicals which are mostly carcinogens, neurotoxins or chemicals that are associated with human detrimental alteration of the endocrine systems. Next is that the industries associated with these disposal of the large amounts of bi-products of the fracking process does face a lot of dilemma. This is so because the municipal water treatment facilities are not equipped to get rid of chemical it contains (Greeley & Stone, p48). As a result the frack water are stored within the industry in large pools and later transported using tankers trucks to waste recycling facilities that then return it back to the industry for further fracking or even transfer it to traditional water treatment plants. The eleventh fact is that very large long high- pressure pipes have been laid, numerous processing and compressors stations put in place and billions of gallons of fresh water used for fracking process (Greeley & Stone, p113) In addition very many wells have been drilled. Next fact is that the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is the state government agency that has been given the responsibility of permitting and regulating the Natural Gas industries in the land (Ralph & Peter, p89). Thirteen is that in the year 2012, the DEP reported an average of 12 cases of violation per day as compared to 1.8 averages of 2011 violation per inspection. This included such violations as illegal discharges into waters sources, explosions, spills and hazardous air pollutions (Greeley & Stone, p88). Next is that local water sources pollution in form of shallow methane migration some time is too extreme such that the residence are unable to use the liquids from their taps. The other fact is that Pennsylvania is leading in fraccidents nationally in such activities as blow-outs, explosions, spills, leaks and truck accidents (Wilber, p188) According to the research conducted in 2010 by Rodale institute of survey, among the Americans of the total population who are aware of fracking, only 40% are very concerned, 30% are somehow concerned of the effects of the fracking to water quality. Those concerned who are Republican are 57%, 86% are Democrats while 74% are independent (Wilber, p67). Next is that the Governors of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware come up together to build up the Delaware River Basin Commission together with the appointed Directors and committee members from each state. This commission is viewed as a legal entity empowered to bring to an end this controversial drilling practice (Wilber, p93). To protect water pollution, New York City and Philadelphia have made recent pleas for DRBC to stop the drilling practices until the research being conducted is completed. However, in the year 2010 the commission released regulations which were left for the public to comment on them (Ryan, p87) Next is that Delaware River provides a supply of fresh drinking water to very large population of about 15.6 million living in Philadelphia region and its surroundings, New York, New Jersey and Delaware which makes up an approximate of 5% of the total United State population. The other fact is that Governor Tom Corbett presented to the multidisciplinary Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission, which was chaired by Lt. Governor Jim Cawley, to give the best course of action on changes to the state’s current Oil & Gas Act (1984) which led “The Impact Fee”, to be signed into law on February 14, 2012 (Mineral Resources Management, p95) In addition, in terms of PA Budget and Policy Center, absence of drilling tax throughout the whole state cost the Pennsylvania an approximate of $300 million in the year 2011. Next is that Susquehanna River is 464 miles long, and it is the greatest river on the American east coast flowing into the Atlantic Ocean. This river flows through three states, New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. It’s worth noting that its watershed empties into the Chesapeake Bay and it is the most Endangered River in America as of 2012. In conclusion, the fracking mixture is made up of acids, detergents and poisons that are not regulated by federal laws but can be problematical if they leak into drinking water. Fracking from the 1990s has made use of greater volumes of mixture-laden water, put in at higher pressures (Mineral Resources Management, p66). Methane gas escapes into the environment out of any gas well, creating the actual though remote likelihood of hazardous explosions. Water from all gas wells often returns to the surface containing extremely negligible but measurable concentrations of radioactive elements and high concentrations of salt. This brine can be harmful if not disposed of properly. Often these companies do dispose these lime into deep wells which some time cause or trigger earthquakes (John & Sons, p100). In addition to these local effects, natural gas extraction has global environmental consequences, due to the fact that the methane gas that is accessed through mining and the carbon dioxide released during methane burning are mutually greenhouse gases that contribute to global climate change such as global warming. New fracking technologies allow for the extraction of larger volume of gas, thus contributing more to climate change than previous natural gas extraction. Works Cited Brasch, Walter M. Fracking Pennsylvania: Flirting with Disaster. Carmichael, Calif: Greeley & Stone, 2013. Print. Fracking. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale Cengage Learning, 2012. Continually updated resource. Holloway, Michael D, and Oliver Rudd. Fracking: The Operations and Environmental Consequences of Hydraulic Fracturing. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2013. Internet resource. Nagelhout, Ryan. Fracking. New York, NY: Gareth Stevens Publishing, 2014. Print Ralph, Peter. Dirty Fracking Business. Melbourne: Melbourne Books, 2012. Print. Ralph, Peter. Dirty Fracking Business. Melbourne: Melbourne Books, 2012. Print. The Facts about Hydraulic Fracturing. Columbus: Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources, Mineral Resources Management, 2011. Internet resource. Wilber, Tom. Under the Surface: Fracking, Fortunes and the Fate of the Marcellus Shale. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2012. Print. . Read More