The United States of America leads the world in the production of natural gas. President Obama stated that the economic future for America will be fueled in large part by vast amounts of natural gas in his 2012 State of the Union Address. What the President failed to mention is how the process of hydraulic fracturing is effecting not only our environment but the lives of everyday Americans. Currently the Marcellus play is the largest operational shale play operating in the United States. This shale formation is proving to be full of wealth in resources enriched with petroleum and natural gas. Although experts have calculated the Marcellus shale to be enormous and have the ability to sustain America’s demands for the next one hundred plus years,
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One may recognize these sedimentary rocks to be sandstones, limestones, or shales. The process of retrieving natural gas from shale is called Hydraulic Fracturing, otherwise known as fracking. Fracking is to drill down into the earth using a gigantic diamond studded drill bit, then a water mixture is aimed at the rock to release the gas inside. Water, sand, and hundreds of chemicals are injected into the rock at high pressures, which allows the gas to flow out to the top of the well, otherwise known as the head of the well. This process leaves behind huge significant pits of waste water that is hazardous to the health of the people that live near these wells as well as the natural water sources around. Similarly like we read about in our textbook Sustainability: A Reader for Writers and witnessed on the film “Food, Inc” with pesticides used on factory farms. These waste water pits can have run-offs or cause …show more content…
In the book Fracking written by Tamara Thompson she discusses the findings of the Environmental Protection Agencies water samples that were taken from resident’s drinking sources in 2008. Thompson states the EPA found hydrocarbons (i.e. Methane gas) along with several other different contaminants like arsenic and benzene that seem to be related to fracking (30). She also goes on to note that, “In 2010, another round of sampling confirmed the contamination, and the EPA, along with federal health officials cautioned residents not to drink their water and to ventilate their homes when taking a bath or shower because the methane in the water could cause an explosion inside their home. (30)” This is disturbing to say the least. In fact, on the Environmental Protection Agencies web site the Regulation of Hydraulic Fracturing: Under the Safe Drinking Water Act,” I found that the fluids used in fracking are specifically stated under provision b as being excluded. The only thing regulated under the safe drinking water act for fracking is the use of diesel fuel which ironically is another form of a
One may recognize these sedimentary rocks to be sandstones, limestones, or shales. The process of retrieving natural gas from shale is called Hydraulic Fracturing, otherwise known as fracking. Fracking is to drill down into the earth using a gigantic diamond studded drill bit, then a water mixture is aimed at the rock to release the gas inside. Water, sand, and hundreds of chemicals are injected into the rock at high pressures, which allows the gas to flow out to the top of the well, otherwise known as the head of the well. This process leaves behind huge significant pits of waste water that is hazardous to the health of the people that live near these wells as well as the natural water sources around. Similarly like we read about in our textbook Sustainability: A Reader for Writers and witnessed on the film “Food, Inc” with pesticides used on factory farms. These waste water pits can have run-offs or cause …show more content…
In the book Fracking written by Tamara Thompson she discusses the findings of the Environmental Protection Agencies water samples that were taken from resident’s drinking sources in 2008. Thompson states the EPA found hydrocarbons (i.e. Methane gas) along with several other different contaminants like arsenic and benzene that seem to be related to fracking (30). She also goes on to note that, “In 2010, another round of sampling confirmed the contamination, and the EPA, along with federal health officials cautioned residents not to drink their water and to ventilate their homes when taking a bath or shower because the methane in the water could cause an explosion inside their home. (30)” This is disturbing to say the least. In fact, on the Environmental Protection Agencies web site the Regulation of Hydraulic Fracturing: Under the Safe Drinking Water Act,” I found that the fluids used in fracking are specifically stated under provision b as being excluded. The only thing regulated under the safe drinking water act for fracking is the use of diesel fuel which ironically is another form of a