Different Attitudes Toward Fracking

DIFFERENT ATTITUDES TOWARD FRACKING 1

DIFFERENT ATTITUDES TOWARD FRACKING 2

Different Attitudes Towards Fracking in New York State and Pennsylvania

Andrew Turner

University of Maryland University College
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Different Attitudes Towards Fracking in New York State and Pennsylvania

The United States has become one of the leading producers of natural gas in the world, and now is an exporter of natural gas as well. As natural gas imports increase, the U.S. Energy Information Administration, ?Expects the United States to

One of the biggest problems with fracking is the large volume of water, now contaminated not only with the chemicals mixed in prior to the fracking, but also now loaded with radioactive brine from deep below ground, making safe disposal of the water difficult. Initially, both New York and Pennsylvania embraced fracking, but while Pennsylvania began to regulate, and raise state revenues with new taxes on drillers, New York State first issued a moratorium on drilling, and then after many studies, in June, 2015, New York State officially banned all high volume hydraulic fracturing (Klopott,

The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) is made up of the state governors of Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York, as well as a representative from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The DRBC was attempting to prepare natural gas regulations that will definitely protect the river basin from pollution, and their difficulty spoke volumes about the risks involved in fracking. According to the DRBC website, ?In connection with natural gas drilling, the commission has identified three major areas of concern: 1. Gas drilling projects in the Marcellus Shale or other formations may have a substantial effect on the water resources of the basin by reducing the flow in streams and/or aquifers used to supply the significant amounts of fresh water needed in the natural gas mining process. 2.On-site drilling operations may potentially add, discharge, or cause the release of pollutants into the ground water or surface water. 3.The recovered "frack water" must be treated and disposed of properly.? (?Natural? para. 4). However, as written by Stutz (2015), ?in November 2011, with only two of the four states in the Delaware Basin in support of fracking, the DRBC abruptly withdrew its proposed Four years ago the gas industry was poised to spread into the Delaware River basin. regulations and instituted a moratorium. The fracking industry in the