The Causes Of Fracking: The Truth Of Fracking

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Nicolas Polidore Mrs. DelGrande Period 5 May 2014 The Truth of Fracking Due to the diminishing amount of fossil fuels around the world, drilling companies everywhere are contemplating how natural gas can be extracted safely yet successfully. Hydraulic fracturing, commonly referred to as fracking, is the method of drilling down into the Earth and injecting a high-pressure water mixture into the ground directed at the shale to release the gas within it (BBC). The reason this process is used is to release and recover oil and gas from underground formations that would be too difficult to obtain by just the course of mining. These underground formations of shale are deep reserves located 5,000 to 8,000 feet below the surface (EEC). In 1947, the first fracking experiment was accomplished by Floyd Farris as he achieved this in Kansas and in Texas (FrackingResource.org). The very next year in 1948, J.B. Clark improved the method and patented it in 1949. This conductive trial was the first introduction of hydraulic hracturing as a well stimulation developed by the Pan American Oil Company (OilandGas.com). The process of fracking has been used for an exceptionally long time, and approximately one million American wells have been fracked since the 1940’s (Brantley 1). This process of fracking is practiced mostly in the states of Texas, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Utah, Maryland, and Wyoming (EEC). “Thanks to fracking, generating electricity with natural gas in now about the same cost of generating electricity with coal.”(Turek). Hydraulic fracturing has played a major role in the development of America’s oil and natural gas resources for more than 60 years. Fracking allows drilling firms to access difficult-to-reach resources of oil and... ... middle of paper ... ...ea should be created in order to retrieve oil. “Fracking has become a key element of natural gas development worldwide in countries such as, the U.S., Canada, India, England, and China.”(EEC). However, this could mean dangerous impacts could be spreading worldwide due to fracking. The public may experience damage and health disasters in the future. Research and debate will continue to generate new and upcoming regulations (EEC). There are many potential “unknown” dangers that could occur and activists are extremely concerned with the fracking potential due to the serious threats and hazards it presents. Long-term productions of fracking are overblown by the risks; therefore, the use of this process could diminish (OilandGas.com). “A growing body of data indicates that fracking is an environmental and public health disaster in the making.”(EnvironmentAmerica).

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