The Effects of Fracking on the Environment

While it is true “fracking”, a procedure to obtain natural gas removal from shale formations, it is also true there have been infrastructure security issues associated with this practice. Furthermore, there have been ecological considerations from fracking brought to the forefront by countless environmentalists. Indeed, hydraulic fracturing, as it is referred to, is a process by which shale gas and oil is uprooted from a depth far below the earth’s exterior. The process of extracting shale gas and oil is employed aggressively while water is forced deep beneath the earth surface through a geological arrangement. From this arrangement, oil and gas is exerted back to the earth’s surface. Moreover, once the hydraulic fracturing process is completed, there is a residue of contaminated water. Subsequently, the excess water is then placed back to its original underground location.

Ideally, one could acknowledge hydraulic fracturing processes have a benefit. Moreover, that benefit is to explore deeper into the geological surface, reaching the natural gas and oil reserves which can contribute abundantly to the nation’s own production of oil and gas. On the other hand, there are problems associated with these endeavors from both a critical infrastructure security and environmental viewpoint. As pointed out previously, contaminated water toward the end of the hydraulic fracturing process is introduced back into the ground. Unfortunately, this can have a profound effect with conventional production for the petroleum sector within the nation’s critical infrastructures. Common sense seems to dictate if water is contaminated from hydraulic fracturing processes it would have an effect on conventional oil refining processes, particularl...

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...ders and birth defects or even death” (Hoffman, 2013, para. 9). These profound discovers bring health affects to a higher concern from my viewpoint, particularly the concerns as it applies to the water table contamination below the earth’s surface. These conclusions, as it applies to the environmental impacts from fracking, adds weight to the argument that hydraulic fracturing does not align with safety and environmental enactments.

Finally, by what method fracking operational concerns are settled ? Committed employee compliance is one method through supervisor involvement in the short term. Once there are indicators of compliance, such as through ecological tests of water with favorable results, as an example, coupled with compliance standards with reduced seismic activity hydraulic fracturing operations can continue (Deppe, 2013; Hoffman, 2013).