Want to Frack?

In addition to providing many environmental activists with a creative play on the f-word, fracking (short for hydrofracking, which in turn is short for hydraulic fracturing) is the hot new way to extract resources and has the potential to provide jobs and economic stability to many beleaguered areas of the country, all the while threatening the water supply of millions. What is hydrofracking? In essence, water mixed with a cocktail of other chemicals is shot miles below the surface of the earth through holes drilled to pockets of natural gas trapped in shale rock formations. The pressure caused by the water forces the gas up to the surface, where it is captured and used to run our fossil fuel-dependent society.

So why is it a good idea?  From an economic standpoint, hydrofracking is great. We discovered a cheap way to get at natural gas which was previously thought to be nearly impossible to extract. Using a combination of state-of-the-art drilling techniques and lots of water, gas companies are able to produce gas efficiently with minimal surface impact. The result is a lucrative business that is bringing jobs and investment to areas in western Pennsylvania and other parts of the east which have long been suffering from economic hard times.  Not only that, but it essentially guarantees the U.S a reliable source of natural gas, produced in the home land, for at least the next hundred years. Keep in mind that natural gas is a much cleaner energy sources than coal and we here at UM have a plant that runs on it (not to mention the nearly 80 percent of Michigan households that use natural gas as their primary energy source for home heating).

What’s the down side?  The economic benefits of this new technology come at the cost of a questionable environmental impact, highlighted by an article in the New York Times earlier this year.  The facts are that the process uses an incredible amount of water which becomes

“laced with highly corrosive salts, carcinogens like benzene and radioactive elements like radium, all of which can occur naturally thousands of feet underground.”

That water then comes back to the surface and must be processed through our existing treatment systems, many of which are not designed to handle those kinds of contaminants.  Moreover, to separate this waste water from aquifers and other drinking water sources, the drilling process relies on a thick concrete casing around its borehole.  This seal has been proven to be somewhat difficult to maintain resulting in the release of these nasty contaminants into the drinking water as well as some interesting videos of people lighting their tap water on fire. The controversy over the hyrdofracking has even led the Delaware River Basin Commission to delay a decision on allowing this form of drilling in its watershed after it had initially seemed ready to go through.

For me, the fact that a debate exists over the environmental impact of this new technology is enough to throw out the idea– especially because of the possible severity of that impact.  What frustrates me most is what a fellow environmental engineering student voiced in a recent viewpoint in the Michigan Daily: there seems to be a general lack of forethought here.  It seems like gas companies have really not thought this through or are turning a blind eye to impacts that are clearly evident.  I thought we got over this 40 years ago with the Clean Water Act, but it looks like we can add another chapter to the book of ways in which we sacrifice our own health and well-being for monetary gain. My hope is that fracking falls out of fashion or, better yet, the time is taken to ensure the safety of its use. As a society, we need to take a step back and shift our mentality from a tapered point of view and see a bit more of the picture.

By: Matt Friedrichs

(Photo by Daniel Foster under a Creative Commons license)