Hydraulic fracturing, more commonly known as Fracking, has become a major issue in current years. Water table and air pollution are the most prevalent concerns as the 21st century dawns. Countries around the world have to balance out the economic and environmental benefits of burning natural gas as a fuel source rather than oil and coal with the dangers of polluting the world’s water ways and the air that we breathe. Millions of dollars have already been poured into the research and development of burning natural gas, and millions if not billions more are sure to be pushed into this blooming industry should it prove profitable.
The process of Fracking starts with making a hole in the ground approximately 20 inches in diameter. This is then drilled down between eighteen and twenty feet and surrounded with a casing usually made of concrete. This is done to prevent groundwater from leaking into the well as it is drilled deeper. A rotary drill is then pushed down into the breach to continue the drilling. As it drills, air is pumped down to the bit of the drill to prevent overheating and to push all of the drilled rock and earth away from the drill and up to the surface. The bit is then sent spiraling downward to a depth of about 400 feet. Here, there are no more water wells from businesses or houses for the drilling to disrupt. The next step entails sending a concrete “surface casting” down into the well. This is pumped down to the bottom of the well where it then turns skyward and
cases the sides of the well all the way up. This casing is essential for preventing contamination of the well and of ground water. Here the original 12 inch drill bit is traded for a smaller one and the air used to keep the bit cool is replace...
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Hydraulic fracturing, also commonly referred to as fracking, is a type of drilling for natural gas and oil that started in the 1940’s. In the beginning, when a well was slowing down, dynamite or TNT were placed inside the well head and detonated to help the flow of gas and oil by expanding natural cracks and veins in the earth. This method of fracking was used extensively for almost fifty years in the United States until the easy to mine and profitable oil had been almost completely tapped. A
development. I believe, we are in the era of innovation, production, trade and investment of billions of dollars, but we don’t have sustainable resources to feed these trade and further proliferation of profits. For example, the current revolution of Hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling of oil and gas has given vast opportunities to boost oil market in the United States, and the benefits are abundant, but there is a set of environmental challenges of resource sustainability among various