Hydraulic Fracturing Overview

Hydraulic fracturing, “fracking” in simpler terms, is the process of extracting underground resources by pumping water and chemicals into a well (Hydraulic fracturing..., para 1). This process of drilling for natural gas has been a major topic for debate, in America, for almost four or five years, and continues to rise. Over the years, many have argued the good and bad effects of hydraulic fracturing. The main categories that are debated with this process are the economy, safety precautions, and health issues.

            The economy plays a big role in the up rise of hydraulic fracturing and whether it is beneficial or not. Farmers and drilling companies seem to be the ones that are directly affected by this process, but a lot of others benefit too. “The gas boom is transforming small towns like this one (Monstrose, PA: population 4,400 and growing) and revitalizing the economy of this once-forgotten stretch of rural northeastern Pennsylvania. The few hotels here have expanded, restaurants are packed and housing rentals have more than doubled” (Seelye, para 5). As Seelye explains, the economic boom is really beneficial towards a lot of people throughout the world, because it is creating more jobs and bringing in money. On the other hand, the process of hydraulic fracturing is bringing about issues. Even though many are able to get jobs and it is a source of money, the machinery and lack of skill is taking a toll on the economy as well. As reported by Katharine Seelye, “But the boom — brought on by an advanced drilling technique called hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking — has brought problems too. While the gas companies have created numerous high-paying drilling jobs, many residents lack the skills for them. Some people’s drinking water has been contaminated. Narrow country roads are crumbling under the weight of heavy trucks. With housing scarce and expensive, more residents are becoming homeless. Local services and infrastructure are strained” (para 7). This shows that even though the economy benefits from the extra jobs and money, the economy also is being negatively affected because not all of the revenue is going towards the government. Most of the money has to go towards the new roads, as well as towards dealing with the problems being brought forward, such as homelessness and water contamination.

Safety precautions are a major issue with hydraulic fracturing, because it directly affects all human and animal populations. According to Joe Nocera, “Let’s take one example: the problem of methane leaks. Every natural gas well leaks methane — methane is natural gas, after all — and while the natural gas that winds up being burned as fuel is, indeed, relatively clean, methane that escapes into the air is potent. Though it eventually disintegrates, for several decades methane can add significantly to greenhouse gas emissions” (para 5). This shows that one of the most occurring safety problems includes leaks, which allows the gases and chemicals to enter the air and ground. Gases leaking into the air and ground is a major issue that comes along with the process of hydraulic fracturing, because it is contaminating the world’s water source as well as causing issues with greenhouse gases. While those who believe the drilling sites have minor issues, others think the complete opposite. As Eliza Griswold expresses, “Harvesting this gas promises either to provide Americans with a clean domestic energy source or to despoil rural areas and poison our air and drinking water, depending on whom you ask” (para 5). Griswold sees that there are two very different views about exactly how safe hydraulic fracturing is or is not. She thinks that “fracking” can be beneficial, with the right and proper precautions when dealing with safety. According to David Grottenthaler, “One concern is what to do with water that flows back out of the formation containing down-hole constituents. Treating it for reuse is one option” (para 2). Grottenthaler believes there are minor defaults with the drilling companies’ safety precautions, but it is not anything they cannot tweak, or is not fixable; it is just a matter of finding ways to fix these issues. There is a third party, or view, on the process of hydraulic fracturing and that is best explained by Elizabeth Royte, as she states  “And many would simply rather not know what’s going on” (para 32). Society, as a whole, needs to care about what is going on even when problems do not necessarily affect them.  Most, who actually show interest or care towards the matter, have worry that deals with whether or not our water and air is being contaminated, and whether or not it is causing a rise in health issues.

            Health issues are a major factor in this long debate dealing with hydraulic fracturing. Problems have been on the rise, because people are constantly getting sick and are seeing high levels of chemicals in their blood systems. They immediately tie the chemicals in their blood to the drilling process, because the ongoing problems had not occurred before hydraulic fracturing came into play. Farmers are the main population that is being affected by hydraulic fracturing in a health aspect, because they live on the same land as the drilling site. As heard and recorded by Lynne Peeples, “The health effects are the biggest uncertainty with this issue. There’s almost no information about it,” said Jackson, whose research has found some evidence for elevated levels of gases such as methane in water supplies close to gas wells. “That doesn’t mean there are huge health effects. We just don’t know”” (para 11). With what Peeples reported, many see that the ongoing health effects can be tied to hydraulic fracturing because of the chemicals that are used. One would not normally see amounts of methane and such chemicals in their blood stream, so they automatically link it to the drilling process for their usage of large amounts of chemicals. Communities, mainly farmers and those directly affected, have had weird events to occur such as their livestock dying after drinking water with a drilling site nearby. On the other hand, there are those that are not directly affected or have not seen health issues from hydraulic fracturing, but are not one hundred percent. As John Manuel states in his article, “However, because groundwater supplies and natural gas deposits are often separated by thousands of feet of rock and earth, and groundwater can be contaminated by many sources, it is difficult to establish a definitive connection between contaminated drinking water and ‘fracking’” (para 3). That is the problem. Most of society does not know whether or not hydraulic fracturing is actually causing health issues, because there are not any real statistics proving so.

            Hydraulic fracturing is the process of drilling for natural gases, beneath the Earth’s surface, by the use of high-pressure water and chemicals. Though this process has been around for quite a few years now, most of society still questions whether or not this process is safe. They worry about the different economic issues, safety precautions, and most importantly, the health issues that have been taking place. Most view hydraulic fracturing as a beneficial organization, because it allows thousands to have jobs and gain money from those jobs. In all realization, more jobs and money can certainly help boost the economy, but knowledge of hydraulic fracturing being safe is more beneficial to society. Once drilling companies and such important figures have specific safety precautions in place, communities will be more comfortable with it. “That’s a hard realization that’s going to sink in,” he said. “We’re definitely going to be able to take a bite out of it through some of the standards that are coming on line, but we’re going to reach a point where something else needs to be done” (Kusnetz, para 21). As Nichols states, a man interviewed by Kusnetz, something must be done. It is just the matter of people coming together and finding a source that best suits the world in its’ entirety.

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