The Detriment that is Fracking

“Fracking,” more than just a curse word from the popular TV show Battlestar Galactica, this process for extracting methane gas from underground shale oil reserves is causing untold damage to nearby aquifers.  According to the EPA’s report on the situation near Pavillion, Wyoming, the protective casing around the fracking production wells, with the exception of two, “do not extend below the maximum depth of domestic wells in the area of investigation” (DiGiulio xi).  This leaves all locally-drawn groundwater susceptible to contamination from fracking fluids, many of which are carcinogens.  To add insult to injury, “at least 33 surface pits previously used for storage/disposal of drilling wastes...and flowback waters are present in the area” (DiGiulio xi).  This means that even if impermeable rock layers isolating fracking sites from the aquifers hold fast, contaminated water could still percolate down from surface contamination.   

As a further testament to the irresponsibility of fracking companies, they typically claim that hydrologic pressure naturally forces fracking liquids down, though “some of the findings in the [EPA’s] report also directly contradict [these] longstanding arguments by the drilling industry for why the fracking process is safe” (Lustgarten par. 6).  In fact, the EPA identified that “hydrologic pressure in the Pavillion area had pushed fluids from deeper geologic layers towards the surface” (Lustgarten par. 20).  Senior policy analyst at the Natural Resources Defense Council, Amy Mall, has even gone as far as to make the bold statement that “no one can accurately say that there is ‘no risk’ where fracking is concerned” (Lustgarten par. 8).  

Problems with fracking were first identified, at least in the Pavillion area, in the mid-1990s, yet the process has continued in operation since then.  Some companies have been responsible enough in the past to provide replacement drinking water to affected residents (Lustgarten par. 10), yet the more common trend is to encourage residents to not “drink their water and ventilate their homes when they bathed because the methane in the water could cause an explosion” (Lustgarten par. 11).  This blatant disrespect for the well-being of the public would be considered an outrage in most parts of the world and especially so in a developed nation such as the United States.

The fact that this issue is receiving a lot of headline attention, especially in North Carolina, is at least comforting in a small way because it implies that people are growing more aware and more concerned about the health of the environment.  Nevertheless, businesses looking to make profit do not give the well-being of natural areas as much priority as private citizens.  Only through government actions based on investigations conducted by agencies such as the EPA, as well as through persistent legislative lobbying by concerned citizens, can significant changes be made in striving for a safer world.

 Works Cited

DiGiulio, Dominic C., Richard T. Wilkin, Carlyle Miller, and Gregory Oberley. "Investigation of Ground Water Contamination near Pavillion, Wyoming." EPA (2011): n. pag. Web. 28 Sept. 2012. <http://www.epa.gov/region8/superfund/wy/pavillion/EPA_Report OnPavillion_Dec-8-2011.pdf>.  

Lustgarten, Abrahm, and Nicholas Kusnetz. "EPA: Natural Gas Fracking Linked to Water Contamination." Scientific American. 09 Dec 2011: n. page. Web. 28 Sep. 2012. <http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fracking-linked-water-contamination-federal-agency>.