Formal Issue Brief

Garren Stamp

Professor Earl Brooks

English 138T

Monday, April 6, 2015

Hydraulic Fracturing

Our dependence on fossil fuels for energy has resulted in some of the worst problems of our time. It has resulted in foreign wars, It has sponsored terrorism, and given radical countries the ability to buy devastating weapons. One result of our dependence on fossil fuels that is often not mentioned but just as horrible is the process of hydraulic fracturing, commonly referred to as simply fracking. Fracking is used to get natural gas and oil from rocks that contain only trace amounts of the substance. This sounds like a good thing, but the good that comes from fracking is dwarfed by the horrible consequences to both the environment and people who live near  tracking sites.

Hydraulic Fracking is a direct result of our increasing dependence on fossil fuels. Throughout the United States there are big deposits of gas-saturated rocks. These rocks only contain a tiny amount of gas each which makes it extremely expensive to try and recover this gas. The High demand for gas in the US pushed scientists to try and create a process to harvest this as in an economically viable way. In 1947 scientist found a process that worked to harvest this tiny amount of gas from each rock. They would pump fracturing liquids containing tiny substances such as salt and sand into the deposits of gas saturated rocks. The amount of this fracturing liquid pumped into the ground depends on the amount required to increase pressure at the target depth. This pressure exceeds the fracture gradient of the rock and cracks the rocks at the target depth. This cracking exposes the inner oil or gas within the rock and allows it to be harvested. This process was found to be highly effective and saw its first successful application in 1950. However, these instances of hydraulic fracturing were on a very small scale. Most of the time it occurred in already made natural gas wells and was just used to squeeze and pressurize the rocks near the crust of the well. This all changed in 1968. The Pan American Petroleum company did the first ever huge job by pumping over 150 tons of liquid, an act that received the nickname of “Massive Fracturing”. This massive featuring started in San Juan Basin, Denver, but quickly spread all over the country from California to Texas up to Pennsylvania. This massive expansion of a new way of fracking resulted in a new type of well. Typical wells were vertical because that was the way that people were drilling. However, vertical wells had a huge amount of runoff and weren’t as effective as they could be. People discovered a way to do horizontal wells. They would inject the liquid from the side since most well basins were more horizontal in nature. This lowers runoff and allows for a more effective way of retrieving the oil or gas. From all these advances over 2.5 million hydraulic fracturing jobs have been done worldwide with the US personally containing for over a million of those jobs.

Injecting over 150 tons of liquid into the earth has the ability to significantly affect the area all around it. How it affects the environment really depends on what type of liquid is injected. When it comes to fracking tons of different liquids can be used. In the past water was the main liquid in use. On average the mixture was about 90% water, 9.5%  sand, and .05% other additives, but due to scientific advancements this is no longer the case. Scientists have use liquefied petroleum gas and propane in order to make fracturing liquids in which water is unnecessary. This advancement has created hundreds of different mixtures used for fracking.  Currently there are three main categories of liquid; gel, foam, or slickwater-based. Each of these liquids is better suited for a different job. The more viscous liquids such as gels and part of the foams are better at keeping the prop pant in suspension while the less vicious slickwater-based and some of the foams allow for higher fluid pumping rates and typically continue to fracture more rocks farther away from the well. These liquids on their own do massive damages to the environment, but these liquids always contain additives in order to best handle the specific characteristics of the well.

Most fracturing liquids use between 3 and 12 different additives. One of the most common is acid, especially hydrochloric or acetic acid. These are most commonly used in the beginning stages in order to clean the perforations and begin the hole in the near-wellbore rock. Another common additive is salt. Salt helps to delay the breakdown of gel polymer chains. Friction reducers such as polyacrylamide are also a common additive. They are used to reduce turbulence in in the liquid which in turn results in a higher flow rate without more pressure. Ethylene glycol is also commonly used in order to prevent scale deposits within the pipe. Glutaraldehyde is also a common additive. Its job is to disinfect the liquid and eliminate a good amount of the bacteria within the well. Citric acid is also commonly used. This is used to prevent corrosion. Finally, Isopropanol is used especially in colder environments. It helps to ensure that the fracturing liquid doesn’t freeze during winter. These are just some of the chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing process. They are known to be harmful to the environment as well as people if accidentally consumed, but are still allowed to be pumped into the ground in massive amounts.

While taking advantage of the fossil fuels within the our own boarders is a good idea in order to decrease our dependence on foreign oil, fracking is not the way to do it. Fracking is absolutely horrible for the environment. First their is massive water pollution. As previously mentioned, the chemicals added and the liquid itself are horrible for plant growth and soil quality. Fracking sites poison and chill all the plants and animal life around it. Not only this but the liquid can seep out even further and hit other fresh water bodies. This can poison and kill the animals within the water as well as those that rely on the water to drink. Hydraulic fracturing also damages air quality. One of the main gasses released during fracking is methane. Methane is a horrible greenhouse gas and has been shown to be be 25 times more effective in trapping heat than carbon dioxide (CO2). One of the most recent studies by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) monitored a single county in Colorado. They estimated that 4% of the methane produced by these wells escapes into the environment. While this may not seem like a lot, this 4% is equal to the emissions of roughly one to three million cars, and this is just from one county. If these results are applied to every fracking county around the country the amount of emissions becomes astronomically large. Methane isn’t the only harmful gas released during fracking. other chemicals such as xylene, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, and metals are also released into the air. Exposure to these has been shown to lead to horrible consequences such as cancer, organ damage, nervous system disorders, and even death. One shocking fact that shows just how horrible fracking is for air quality is that the air quality of rural Wyoming near drilling sites was shown to be worse than the air quality of Los Angeles’s worst day. Another environmental effect of fracking is man-made earthquakes due to the injection of fracking’s wastewater. These induced seismic events are usually small, the strongest measuring 5.2, but earthquakes occurring where they usually never occur can be devastating to the environment.

Fracking absolutely destroys and contaminates the environment around it. This contamination affects the lives of people around it. One significant and often overlooked effect of fracking  is noise pollution. Fracking is extremely loud and exposure to these types of sounds has been shown to lead to damaged hearing and hearing loss. However, noise pollution from fracking is not limited to the sounds that we can hear. Fracking releases subsonic noise that we cant hear, but that we can feel. This creates the feeling of small vibrations on items and people for people living near fracking sites. Another underestimated negative result of fracking is light pollution. A lot of fracking sites run 24/7 in order to maximize production. In order to do this safely a ton of light is required for workers to be able to see what they are doing at all hours of the night. This light isn’t limited just the sight, but can be seen and brightens a significant amount of area surrounding the sight. These two results have been shown to heavily affect the sleep cycles of people around it. The people who live around fracking sites are affected by the environment damage around them. One example of this occurred in West Virginia. People were able to light their tap water on fire due to chemical runoff during fracking. This is a huge problem. access to fresh water is basically a given in more developed countries such as the united states and now fracking has taken this away from people. This is also a huge fire safety issue for the people. They cant have open flames near their taps or else they risk easily starting a fire. If they happen to start a small fire they cant easily put it out because their water is flammable. This water pollution is not just dangerous in extreme cases, but consumption of this water is horrible for people. Many of the chemicals within the fracturing liquid have been shown to be carcinogens an at the very least not meant for human consumption. No matter how perfectly orchestrated, their is always water runoff from fracturing sites. This runoff flows down into ground water supplies. Ground water is the primary source of water for small towns with their own ground water wells. Because of this, citizens are unknowingly killing themselves by simply drinking their own water because of a fracking company. As previously mentioned fracking greatly affects air quality. People who live near the fracking site are forced to breath in all those harmful chemicals. These chemicals can lead to lung cancer as well as other breathing issues such as  asthma or bronchitis.

The affects of hydraulic fracturing on the environment people is absolutely horrible, but a lot of people blow it off and argue that the effects are not as bad as they may seem. However, if you actually research it, the effects can be and are a lot worse than stated above. One example of this is Dimock, Delaware. Dimock Delaware has seen the increase of fracking sites all around them and one of their main water sources; the Delaware River. Dimock has experienced some of the worst results due to fracking. One example of this is what has happened to their water. Their water has actually turned brown. Not only is it discolored, but consuming their now brown water actually makes the residents extremely sick. This water became so polluted due to fracking that dishes became scarred in the dishwasher and their laundry became discolored and stained. Many citizens installed expense water filtration systems, but still found out that their water contained a lot of unnatural chemicals, especially methane. Their water remained so polluted that citizens would have to take a break from getting a shower and lay on the floor because exposure to the chemicals still in the water had made them extremely dizzy and lightheaded. Sores and frequent headaches also began to appear on the citizens of Dimock.  Another result of the surrounding fracking on Dimock is that many horses and pets have began to lose their hair. Also, In one case a woman’s water well in Dimock actually spontaneously combusted. Citizens can also feel the ground shake when fracking sites are operating. Fracking has destroyed the town of Dimock. Citizens want to leave, but now their property values are so  low that they are forced to stay there. This is just one example of what allowing fracking to come into an area can do to town.

Hydraulic Fracturing is Preventing  this from happening to others or even yourself and your family should be a huge concern for everyone. The easiest way to do this is to create anti-fracking legislation or at the very least more stringent hydraulic fracturing regulation. Currently the government hasn’t done much to try and curtail fracking. Federal law and regulations are weak at worst and nonexistent in many of the intricate harms of fracking. State laws are just as bad and offer very little protection to average citizens from the huge fracking gas and oil companies. We need to contact our congressmen and representatives and tell them that we are against fracking in our town or any town. If we come together as a group of citizens we’ll have enough political power to force the governments hand and make them fix and clean up many of the issues with fracking. In order for this to be successful though the percentage of the population demanding protection and fighting fracking needs to be much higher than it currently is. This is where the importance of grassroots organizations can be seen. We need to come together and talk to our neighbors and friends about the dangers and harms of fracking. The more people that are educated about the true consequences of fracking will result in more people putting pressure on government officials to act.

If you wish to do more than simply write to and contact your representatives there are many groups and organizations you can donate to or volunteer for to help eliminate fracking. When it comes to these groups there are two main categories, state groups and national groups. State groups are the most common. These groups focus on preventing, and/or increasing regulation in their specific state. Since the ability for companies to practice hydraulic fracturing within a state is up to the states, these groups have the ability to ban fracking companies from operating. Although a lot of regulation does comes from state governments, these groups primarily focus on banning fracking in one specific state or even just an area of a state. Federal groups are the complete opposite. While these groups may be for the outright banning of fracking on a federal level, this is almost an impossible goal. Because of this, these groups usually focus on increasing regulation of fracking companies and sights as well as trying to push for safer fracking practices.

Bibliography:

Montgomery, Carl T., and Michael B. Smith. “Hydraulic Fracturing: History of an Enduring Technology.” JPT Archives (n.d.): n. pag. Our Energy Policy. JPT Archives, 26 Dec. 2010. Web. 07 Apr. 2015. <http://www.ourenergypolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Hydraulic.pdf>.

Arebotnjak, Tanja. “NRDC Issue Brief.” Fracking Fumes: Air Pollution from Hydraulic Fracturing Threatens Public Health and Communities (2014): n. pag. National Resource Defense Council. NRDC, 1 Dec. 2014. Web. 14 Apr. 2015. <http://www.nrdc.org/health/files/fracking-air-pollution-IB.pdf>.

“Hydraulic Fracturing Unlocking America’s Natural Gas Resource.” Api.org. America’s Oil and Natural Gas Industry, July 2014. Web. 07 Apr. 2015. <http%3A%2F%2Fwww.api.org%2F~%2Fmedia%2FFiles%2FPolicy%2FExploration%2FHYDRAULIC_FRACTURING_PRIMER.ashx>.

Bateman, Christopher. “A Colossal Fracking Mess.” Vanity Fair. N.p., June 2010. Web. 30 Apr. 2015. <http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2010/06/fracking-in-pennsylvania-201006>.

“Shooters – A “Fracking” History -.” American Oil & Gas History. AAPL, 21 Apr. 2014. Web. 30 Apr. 2015. <http://aoghs.org/technology/hydraulic-fracturing/>.

Hartnett-White, K. (2011). “The Fracas About Fracking- Low Risk, High Reward, but the EPA is Against it” (PDF). National Review Online. Retrieved 2012-05-07

Loki, Reynard. “8 Dangerous Side Effects of Fracking That the Industry Doesn’t Want You to Hear About.” Alternet. N.p., 28 Apr. 2015. Web. 30 Apr. 2015. <http://www.alternet.org/environment/8-dangerous-side-effects-fracking-industry-doesnt-want-you-hear-about>.

 

 

 

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