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Cons of Hydraulic Fracturing

Hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, is unacceptable. Hydraulic fracturing began
in 1949 in the United States. Fracking is the drilling and injection of fluid into the ground at a
high pressure so shale rocks can fracture and give off a natural gas. A reason fracking has
become so big because it allows more area underground to be accessed, which required great
amounts of water and fracking chemicals to assure this. Fracking wells nationwide produced an
estimated 280 billion gallons of wastewater in 2012 (Fracking by the numbers). Even though
people do agree that fracking is more of a helpful thing, fracking does have its cons to the
useful things it helps people with everyday. It is undesirable because it contaminates our
water, it causes pollution and increases number in earthquakes.
Hydraulic fracturing has more than one million wells have been drilled using this method.
During the time fracking began health and environmental issues were not much of a problem.
Now, reports have shown that the contaminated water contains certain compounds that are toxic
to humans. Toxic chemicals and methane gases leak out of drilled pipelines into groundwater.
When comparing typical water wells and drinking water wells, methane concentration is
seventeen times higher in drinking water wells (Dong, Linda). This is affecting our
environment, placing people who ingest this contaminated water in a difficult situation. There
are over one thousand documented cases of health damages due to the ingestion of contaminated
water.
Humans are not the only ones affected by the contaminated water, wildlife animals are
too. The exposure of this polluted water to wildlife animals is once again placing humans in
danger; especially those who hunt for their food or buy them fresh off a farmers market.

According to Fracking Threatens California's Wildlife, there have already been farmers who
reported illnesses and deaths of animals that have been exposed to fracking wastewater. A study
indicates the process of hydraulic fracturing deep shale to release natural gas may be linked to
shortened lifespan and reduced or mutated reproduction in cattle. Our wildlife animals are dying
out because of our actions of fracking. According to Fracking Threatens California's Wildlife,
Wastewater ponds resulting from gas extraction provide breeding grounds for mosquitoes that
can transmit diseases such as the deadly West Nile Virus to wild birds. This type of disease can
transmit into humans and end up killing us too.
Fracking is not only contaminating our water, it is also wasting it. Two-million to fourmillion gallons of water is the average amount of water used to drill a horizontal shale gas
(Groundwater Protection Council, 2009). According to An Introduction to Indoor Air Quality,
The amount of recovered fracturing fluid is only thirty to fifty percent. The rest of the water
remains in the ground and does not decompose. The fluid that is not used is left in open air pits
so it can evaporate. The evaporation of this fluid releases Volatile Organic Compounds,
abbreviated as VOCs. Once these VOCs are released it contaminates the air creating acidic rain
and ground level ozone. The exposure of VOCs can cause severe health problems which include
damage to the liver, kidney and nervous system; they are also suspected to be a cause of cancer
in humans. Wildlife animals can also be harmed because of these hazardous compounds.
According to "Dangers of Fracking" It takes 1-8 million gallons of water to complete
each fracking job Volatile Organic Compounds are not the only reason the air being polluted, it is
also the transportation of water needed and other chemicals. The amount of transportation
needed to carry supplies to and from the fracking site is causing an enormous amount of
pollution. Each gas well has an average of four hundred tanker trucks, which run on diesel fuel,

to carry water to and from the gas wells. Currently, there are more than 500,000 gas wells that
are used in the United States (An Introduction to Indoor Air Quality: Volatile Organic
Compounds). That adds up to 200,000,000 tanker trucks. These 500,000 wells release airborne
contaminants that can have harmful effects on our health. Just like VOCs being released
nitrogen oxides are being released as well. Being vulnerable to these toxins can cause you to
have bloody noses, shortness of breath and watery eyes, just like the residents who live close to
these gas wells.
Fracking is causing a lot of air pollution this pollution is leading to affecting our people.
According to Fracking Fumes, an evaluation of birth defects in areas with high concentrations
of oil and gas activity found that mothers who lived near many oil and gas wells were 30 percent
more likely to have babies with heart defects. Not only is fracking hurting the people who are
living but it is affecting people coming into the world. Newborns that could also be linked to air
pollution can cause an increases in low birth weight. Another study shows that in Colorado they
found an increased risk of chronic and subchronic effects mainly stemming from oil and gas
related pollutants. This can harm the respiratory and neurological systems and lead to symptoms
like shortness of breath, nosebleeds, headaches, dizziness, and chest tightness (Fracking
Fumes).
Scientists say that the wastewater of fracking is what triggers earthquakes not the
fracking of shale rocks for natural gas. The number of earthquakes has risen in areas where there
is hydraulic fracturing. Within the central and eastern United States, the number of earthquakes
has increased dramatically over the past few years. Information shows that deep underground
forcing fluids under high pressure can increase regional seismic activity (Scientific review of
shale and tight gas development (fracking) reveals public health hazards and data gaps). The

recent increase in earthquakes show significant earthquakes are increasingly occurring within the
United States midcontinent. According to Scientific review of shale and tight gas development
reveals public health hazards and data gaps, it is said by the USGS that most earthquakes since
August 2001 were caused by fracking. A deep injection well in 1961 was built by the U.S.
Armys Rocky Mountain Arsenal to get rid of the sites liquid waste. The RMA said that the
army stopped using this well in February 1966 because it was triggering earthquakes in the area.
In states like Oklahoma used to have an average of 50 earthquakes yearly. During the years of
2010 and 2011 there were over one thousand fifty earthquakes in areas where fracking is
happening (Scientific review of shale and tight gas development (fracking) reveals public health
hazards and data gaps). Fracking is causing earthquakes or is either leading into earthquakes to
happen.

Many other sources however, argue that fracking is a helpful thing. People believe that
fracking is the key to accessing energy sources that are available in oil shale, tight oil, and coal
seam gas but they think about the cons of it (Dangers of fracking). So much natural gas has
been extracted through fracking in recent years that US carbon emissions are actually falling.
This overlooks that even if fracking has carbon emissions falling, natural gases are still flowing
into wells. Which are leading to methane concentrations 17x higher in drinking water wells
(Dangers of Fracking).
Fracking doesn't just lower carbon emissions, it also causes gas prices to drop. "Gas bills
have dropped $13 billion per year from 2007 to 2013 as a result of increased fracking" (The
economic benefits of fracking). This is good news because according to The economic benefits
of fracking, "all types of energy consumers, including commercial, industrial, and electric power
consumers, saw economic gains totaling $74 billion per year from increased fracking". While
people might find this a great pro on fracking it involves money saving. This is increase of
fracking is damaging our wildlife, such as leading to pollution. Saving a few bucks isn't always
so bad but is saving and killing our wildlife that so great?
The drilling underground is leading us to beneficial things for us.For example fracking
is reducing our dependence on foreign oil,we won't have to send untold amounts of money to
government (10 reasons fracking improves American live). But all this drilling and injecting
water can also induce seismic events. According to Induced Earthquakes, Between the years
19732008, there was an average of 21 earthquakes of magnitude three and larger in the central
and eastern United States". Fracking has good cost to it, such as having more oil and dropping
gas prices but really it's putting our life's in danger. The drilling is causing simple low or high
earthquakes to occur, according to Induced Earthquakes, the earthquakes aren't big enough to

cause so much damage but these "earthquakes are in the magnitude 34 range, large enough to
have been felt by many people". Though it earthquakes aren't causing a big impact to fracking,
there are other cons of fracking that is destroying our earth.
Fracking is undesirable because it contaminates our water, it causes pollution and
increases number in earthquakes, fracking is unacceptable even though people would argue
fracking is useful, the benefits fracking gives us are nothing in comparison to the amount of
damage it causes. In the past, fracking has released 450,000 tons of pollutants into the air that
can have immediate health impacts (Fracking by the numbers). Fracking has come a long way
and should be slowed down because of the damage it has caused in our past. In the future, we
have to have an end to fracking or limit to it because it could lead into worse of global warming
according to Fracking by the numbers completion of fracking wells produced global warming
pollution of 100 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent from 2005 to 2012. These
cons are the main reasons hydraulic fracturing should be stopped. Placing innocent peoples
health and community in danger is not acceptable, for any reason.

Citations
Dong, Linda. "Hydraulic Fracturing." Dangers of Fracking. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2015.
Lohan, Tara. "The 4 Big Dangers of Fracking." RSS. N.p., 10 Jan. 2014. Web. 23 Mar. 2015.
"Wilderness.org." Wilderness.org. The Wilderness Society, 25 Feb. 2013. Web. 26 Mar. 2015.
"An Introduction to Indoor Air Quality: Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)." EPA.
Environmental Protection Agency, n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2015.
Campbell, Jon. "Poll: Fracking Opposition at an All-time High in NY." Press & Sun-Bulletin.
N.p., 30 Sept. 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2015.
"SCIENTIFIC REVIEW OF SHALE AND TIGHT GAS DEVELOPMENT (FRACKING)
REVEALS PUBLIC HEALTH HAZARDS AND DATA GAPS." Physicians Scientists
& Engineers for Healthy Energy. N.p., 16 Apr. 2014. Web. 23 Apr. 2015
"Catskill Mountainkeeper." Catskill Mountainkeeper. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2015.
Fracking by the numbers Environmentamerica.org