Wicked Environmental Problems - Research Paper Example

The Negative Impacts of Hydro-Fracking Hydro-fracking, also referred to as hydraulic fracturing, is the process of using many gallons of water mixed with sand and many chemicals to fracture shale rock, which is found many feet below the surface of the earth. This mixture of water, sand, and chemicals will hold the fractures open and let the gas trapped inside seep back through the drilled holes to the surface. This process has the problem of the quantity of water and chemicals used. The process has its benefits in the clean fuel and economic growth. This paper will explain the negative impacts of the process and why the negative impacts are difficult to manage. Negative Environmental Impact Drilling in Allegany county of Marcellus Shale seems like a brilliant idea and an excellent opportunity that many people seek to explore. There are many flaws, however, associated with this renowned energy source. This paper only discusses the proven and documented problems. First, the focus is on the many gallons of water that will be utilized in the process. In the drilling process, to retrieve the gas, approximately four million gallons of water are required (Campbell and Laherrere 79). This water is harnessed form the nearby rivers and streams and is used until the whole process is completed. Some may say that this volume of water is insignificant compared to the average water from the municipal council that is used on a daily basis (Campbell and Laherrere 83). The water from the municipal council is used in homes and institutions, whereas the water used in the drilling process is said to be a consumptive water loss; this water does not return to the water cycle, and most of it remains deep in the ground for many years. Regulation measures should be provided to ensure that the demand for water is not as high as to debilitate the local waterways (Olsthoorn and Anna 23). Water is just one of the many ingredients of the drilling process. The second alarming concern lies in the many chemicals that are used for the effective retrieval of the gas and to hold open the cracks in the earth. These chemicals include benzene, kerosene, hydraulic acid neurotoxins, and many other dangerous chemicals (Harvey 90). For each drilling process, more than 15,000 gallons of these harmful chemicals are used. The chemicals are transported via large trucks to the drilling site where they are mixed with water. The procedure of mixing the two is risky – if a spill occurs even in small scale, the great concentration of the chemicals will have many devastating effects on human health and the environment. Small scale spills are a common occurrence and collectively these small spills have a large cumulative impact (Harvey 96). Handling and treatment of the waste water that is generated is the other problem that is associated with the drilling process. The current municipal water treatment facilities are not equipped to handle the chemicals (Marion 44). Proper treatment of the waste water is an expensive process, and, in most cases, the water is left to sit in man-made ponds, which pose significant threat to the human population in the area due to potential leaks and the wild animals that may wander into the exposed chemical ponds. Such infractions have been witnessed in the drilling processes in Pennsylvania (Marion 28). Environmentalists have claimed that the process of hydro-fracking is an extremely detrimental to the water supply and natural habitat. The process has become controversial and has received a lot of debate in the recent years (Cunningham and Mary 34). A significant amount of forestland loss and surface damage should be available for an area to undergo the process of hydro-fracking. The effect is elevated when there are multiple drill sits and an increased number of access roads. The environmentalists have argued that the process causes earthquakes and many explosions above the ground and is responsible for draining stream water, which is a precious resource in many places (Cunningham and Mary 41). Difficult to Manage The horrible events discussed above, therefore, indicate that not only environmentalists are concerned with creating awareness of the dangers of this process to the environment and to the people’s health (Marion 35). Only 13% of New Yorkers believe that the process is safe for the environment, yet the frackers are still preparing themselves in anticipation of a go ahead to perform drilling. They do so because most of the New Yorkers are so worried of the economy that they want the drilling to happen whether it endangers the environment or not (Marion 40). Another problem that makes it difficult to manage the effects of the process to the environment is caused by the state officials who choose to ignore all the evidence presented. Consultants who have been asked to study the process are instructed to look only at the economic benefits of the process and ignore any other areas of concern (Balint et al. 67). It is immensely challenging to make decisions on how to manage wicked problems when there are the conflicting values, uncertain science, and only a limited ability to predict the outcome of the decisions made. There are three common ways of approaching the management of wicked problems. The precautionary principle is that we do not do anything unless we are 100 percent sure that no harm will be caused (Olsthoorn and Anna 27). Adaptive management implies acting systematically and, at that, collecting and analyzing the data of the outcomes of our actions; we can then change future actions based on what we will have learned. The last method is public participation – the involvement of people who care in the agency decision-making process (Olsthoorn and Anna 27). How Different Stakeholders Might View the Wicked Problem Differently Environmental groups view the environmental problem differently from the government regulators, politicians, and resource companies. The environmental groups are formed to advocate and fight for environmental protection. They are there to ensure that the government and companies are not doing anything that will leave the environment unfit or increase environmental pollution (Marion 45). Politicians are always looking for a weakness in the people and then discuss the matter in pretence of care. The politicians are after their own personal gain, and only a few are for the gain of the people (DeGrace and Leslie 33). The politicians initiate and pass bills in parliament that give these companies the right to perform the drilling process in given areas. Other politicians are just after the economic benefit of the problem, so they choose to neglect any advice from environmentalists (Cunningham W. and Cunningham M. 45). Resource companies are the companies given the drilling contract to perform the process in a given location. The objective of these companies is to make a profit, and they are willing to do this even at the cost of the environment (Balint et al. 67). These are times when the world is in economic crisis and companies have a chance to operate in specified locations. They usually accept these opportunities without making a second choice. These companies end up leaving the area in a mess by digging some ponds where they drain the waste water; this waste water causes problems to wildlife, people, and the environment in general (Balint et al. 67). Conclusion There are many negative effects of hydro-fracking that have peen proven to be true. Numerous chemicals that are used with water sip into the ground, thus contaminating the underground water catchment areas. Poor treatment of wastewater used in the drilling process causes heath problems for the people consuming the treated water. There are many conflicting interests in the drilling process, from the economic benefit of the extracted gas and the employment opportunities created by the drilling companies to the interest of environmental groups who argue of the negative economic impacts of the drilling process. This paper has discussed at length the negative environmental impact of the process and why conflicting interests of different groups have made the management of the wicked problems difficult. Works Cited Balint, Peter J. et al. Wicked environmental problems: managing uncertainty and conflict. Washington: Island Press, 2011. Print. Cunningham W. P., and Mary Ann Cunningham. Environmental science: a global concern. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2010. Print. DeGrace P, Leslie H. S. Wicked problems; righteous solutions. Englewood Cliffs: Yourdon Press, 2010. Print Harvey L. D. Energy and the new reality 2 : carbon-free energy supply. London: Earthscan, 2010. Print. Marion, Nancy E. Making environmental law: the politics of protecting the Earth. Santa Barbara: Praeger, 2011. Print. Olsthoorn X., and Anna J. W. Understanding industrial transformation : views from different disciplines. Dordrecht: Springer, 2006. Print. Campbell C. J., and Jean Laherrere. "The end of cheap oil." Scientific American 278(3) (1998): 78-83. Print. Read More