Fracking; is it Harmful to American Citizens? Fracking in the United States has recently hit a boom. Fracking is not actually the process of retrieving the natural gas or oil. However, it is the process of improving the energy flow of the components before the extraction of oil or natural gas begin. In these terms, fracking will be counted as the whole process, before and after drilling. Fracking has many supporters and many foes. Although the U.S has been fracking for a while and has cut down oil prices, fracking does and has done a numerous amount of damage, ranging from infrastructure problems to pollution.
Fracking in the U.S has happened for about 65 years. Not until recently did it become better innovated to produce more natural gas. …show more content…
Trucks bring large amount of water and chemicals. Per frack, “a well site may need up to 2000 tanker truck trips,”(Hoffman 1). Each well as stated before can be fracked up to 20 times. So for each well, 40,000 tanker truck trips are made. This is not only contributing to the waste of oil, it 's contributing to air pollution as well. A study that was done found that 30,000-pound single axle trucks cause more damage than about, “‘...900 times and 7,500 times more damage than a 3,000-pound single axle pass....’” (Kille 1). The roads that are used are constantly damaged by the trucks. Companies in Pennsylvania have even been required to pay $5,000-$10,000 per visibly damaged small roadways. Although they’re paying for the road, that amount of money is not very sufficient to help maintain …show more content…
Since there is a lot of water used in the process, some of it can get lost. The water that is mixed with chemicals is pumped into the ground and is supposed to rise, however “ …sometimes it does not rise up to the surface but rather seeps through the ground towards other water sources like rivers, ponds and even the sea,”(d 'Anjou 1). These mixtures going into our water is acceptable. The chemicals could injure or even kill the wildlife. In 4 states, Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, they all have had confirmed cases of drinking water contamination due to fracking. A total of 100 confirmed cases throughout the U.S has happened. In Poplar, MT, the EPA forced 3 oil companies to pay for new water infrastructure that was caused by drilling. The need for the pollution caused by the transportation, drilling, etc, to be restrained and to be under control is now. The more these unsafe practices happen, the more the risk the general public will
Fracking in the U.S has happened for about 65 years. Not until recently did it become better innovated to produce more natural gas. …show more content…
Trucks bring large amount of water and chemicals. Per frack, “a well site may need up to 2000 tanker truck trips,”(Hoffman 1). Each well as stated before can be fracked up to 20 times. So for each well, 40,000 tanker truck trips are made. This is not only contributing to the waste of oil, it 's contributing to air pollution as well. A study that was done found that 30,000-pound single axle trucks cause more damage than about, “‘...900 times and 7,500 times more damage than a 3,000-pound single axle pass....’” (Kille 1). The roads that are used are constantly damaged by the trucks. Companies in Pennsylvania have even been required to pay $5,000-$10,000 per visibly damaged small roadways. Although they’re paying for the road, that amount of money is not very sufficient to help maintain …show more content…
Since there is a lot of water used in the process, some of it can get lost. The water that is mixed with chemicals is pumped into the ground and is supposed to rise, however “ …sometimes it does not rise up to the surface but rather seeps through the ground towards other water sources like rivers, ponds and even the sea,”(d 'Anjou 1). These mixtures going into our water is acceptable. The chemicals could injure or even kill the wildlife. In 4 states, Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, they all have had confirmed cases of drinking water contamination due to fracking. A total of 100 confirmed cases throughout the U.S has happened. In Poplar, MT, the EPA forced 3 oil companies to pay for new water infrastructure that was caused by drilling. The need for the pollution caused by the transportation, drilling, etc, to be restrained and to be under control is now. The more these unsafe practices happen, the more the risk the general public will