The subjects within this report take a look at the environmental risks and impacts oil extraction, transportation, and use has on the environments within the regions of Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and the Gulf of Mexico. Crude oil can be described as an naturally occurring unrefined petroleum product made up of long hydrocarbons that can be refined into a usable product. Examples could range from gasoline, diesel or some sort of petrochemical.
2. Extraction:
When looking at all four areas mentioned, most of the processes used for the extraction of the oil is comprised of drilling, pumping and fracking (excluding Gulf of Mexico). The Gulf of Mexico has more than 4,000 active platforms drilling with the majority of them in waters less than …show more content…
2.1. Risks of Extraction: The process of extraction is not the only contributor to environmental risks. There are many other factors involved that are pollutant causing and disruptive to the lands such as vehicle emissions on/off the site, storing and dispensing fuels, or even the movement of dust through the distribution and moving of soils (“Development Impacts”).
A. Fracking (Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico) One of the big reasons fracking is becoming such a talked about form of extraction is because we are able to extract oil for underdeveloped shale rocks instead of waiting on them to develop fully and then drill like the conventional method. There are a lot of environmental risks associated with fracking such as polluting groundwater due to the injection of poisonous chemicals pushed down the pipes under high pressures, blowouts due to a gas explosion harming nearby people, air (methane, potent greenhouse gases, CO², and a volatile organic compound), and land. There are big problems with the waste disposal after the chemicals were used down the pipes. Fracking can even produce earthquakes in surrounding areas (“Development Impacts”). In Oklahoma for example, before 2009 when the disposal of wastewater into underground well started, the state had an average of 2 earthquakes a year, and the number jumped to 585 earthquakes by 2009 (Pantsios). …show more content…
In Texas there have been many protests against new fracking, especially in the Denton county where they had a majority vote to not allow hydraulic fracking in their area, while other locals were being arrested for not leaving planned fracking sites (Pantsios). Another concern for Denton county is the rise in breast cancer in a specific area where drilling is very prevalent (Pantsios). In Oklahoma there is also a strong resistance against fracking with groups like Stop Fracking Oklahoma or Fracking Fighters. New Mexico has a group by the name of Americans Against Fracking, with Mora county being the first county in the nation to pass an ordinance banning hydraulic fracturing (Cart). In the Gulf of Mexico they are concerned with the exploration for more oil, so they came up with the resistance group CAOE (Committee Against Oil Exploration) to avoid further disruption of their ecosystem (No
2. Extraction:
When looking at all four areas mentioned, most of the processes used for the extraction of the oil is comprised of drilling, pumping and fracking (excluding Gulf of Mexico). The Gulf of Mexico has more than 4,000 active platforms drilling with the majority of them in waters less than …show more content…
2.1. Risks of Extraction: The process of extraction is not the only contributor to environmental risks. There are many other factors involved that are pollutant causing and disruptive to the lands such as vehicle emissions on/off the site, storing and dispensing fuels, or even the movement of dust through the distribution and moving of soils (“Development Impacts”).
A. Fracking (Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico) One of the big reasons fracking is becoming such a talked about form of extraction is because we are able to extract oil for underdeveloped shale rocks instead of waiting on them to develop fully and then drill like the conventional method. There are a lot of environmental risks associated with fracking such as polluting groundwater due to the injection of poisonous chemicals pushed down the pipes under high pressures, blowouts due to a gas explosion harming nearby people, air (methane, potent greenhouse gases, CO², and a volatile organic compound), and land. There are big problems with the waste disposal after the chemicals were used down the pipes. Fracking can even produce earthquakes in surrounding areas (“Development Impacts”). In Oklahoma for example, before 2009 when the disposal of wastewater into underground well started, the state had an average of 2 earthquakes a year, and the number jumped to 585 earthquakes by 2009 (Pantsios). …show more content…
In Texas there have been many protests against new fracking, especially in the Denton county where they had a majority vote to not allow hydraulic fracking in their area, while other locals were being arrested for not leaving planned fracking sites (Pantsios). Another concern for Denton county is the rise in breast cancer in a specific area where drilling is very prevalent (Pantsios). In Oklahoma there is also a strong resistance against fracking with groups like Stop Fracking Oklahoma or Fracking Fighters. New Mexico has a group by the name of Americans Against Fracking, with Mora county being the first county in the nation to pass an ordinance banning hydraulic fracturing (Cart). In the Gulf of Mexico they are concerned with the exploration for more oil, so they came up with the resistance group CAOE (Committee Against Oil Exploration) to avoid further disruption of their ecosystem (No