Fracking: To Drill or Not to Drill

            A recent report was released by the EPA on how the fracking process in Wyoming has caused contamination in the water source for Pavillion, a small town located near the fracking site. You might be asking yourself “What is fracking?” According to Wikipedia, fracking, or hydraulic fracturing “is a technique used to release petroleum, natural gas (including shale gas, tight gas and coal seam gas), or other substances for extraction. This type of fracturing creates fractures from a well bore drilled into reservoir rock formations.” Fracking was said to be perfectly safe for the environment by the drilling industry due to the fact “that hydrologic pressure would naturally force fluids down, not up; that deep geologic layers provide a watertight barrier preventing the movement of chemicals towards the surface; and that the problems with the cement and steel barriers around gas wells aren't connected to fracking.” (Lustgarten, and Kusnetz 6) However, there was found to be “synthetic compounds such as glycol ethers...and the assortment of other organic components…as the result of direct mixing of hydraulic fracturing fluids with ground water in the Pavillion gas field”. “This is in part because the cement barrier meant to protect the well bore and isolate the chemicals in their intended zone had been weakened and separated from the well, the EPA concluded.” (Lustgarten, and Kusnetz 19) “The report also found that hydrologic pressure in the Pavillion area had pushed fluids from deeper geologic layers towards the surface. Those layers were not sufficient to provide a reliable barrier to contaminants moving upward.” (Lustgarten, and Kusnetz 20)

            From this recent report, we can see the danger to the environment and to our own lives of “fracking” close to towns or cities. Although we might need the gas or resources, nothing is worth endangering the lives of human beings so carelessly. There is a little good news for the drilling industry though because the findings of the EPA “…in Wyoming are specific to the region's geology; the Pavillion-area gas wells were fracked at shallower depths than many of the wells in the Marcellus shale and elsewhere.” This means that in most other locations the fracking takes place so far beneath the surface of the Earth that the chemicals that are produced cannot possibly get into the well water of the surrounding areas. However, I still believe that caution, awareness, and safety should be used when performing this process.

             To read the article yourself, click the link http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fracking-linked-water-contamination-federal-agency

Lustgarten, Abraham, and Nicholas Kusnetz. "EPA: Natural Gas Fracking Linked to Water             Contamination."Scientific American. 09 Dec 2011: n. page. Web. 27 Sep. 2012