Fracking Research Paper

620 Words3 Pages
What is Fracking? Fracking is the process whereby rock is “fractured” by pumping high pressurised liquids made from sand, water and chemicals into the earth's mantle layer. This cracks open the rock and allows gases such as ; natural gas, brine and petroleum to flow out. When pressurised liquids are removed bits of sand hold the fractures open. Why is this bad for humans? Fracking negatively affects us, as when the fracking process occurs, some of the chemicals used in the fracking fluid, leach out into our groundwater supply and therefore contaminate it. One of these chemicals is methane, and most of the others are toxic. When removing the fracking fluid only 30 - 50% of the chemicals are recovered. Each time fracking occurs, around 156 000 L of chemicals are used in the fracking fluid. If only 50% is recovered,…show more content…
This is because of the high concentration of methane inside the water due to the fracking fluid leaching into the groundwater system. Methane is a highly explosive gas that bonds with water. Effects on the environment The main effects of fracking on the environment is the water consumption and pollution of air/water. Fracking uses approximately 8 million liters of water per fracturing, a well can be fractured around 18 times, so that means 144 000 000 liters of water is used for each fracturing site. Another problem consists of air, noise and water pollution. When the natural gas is extracted, 3% of the gas is lost into the atmosphere. The water pollution occurs when the natural gas is extracted, the fracking fluid must be used to fill up the hole. This fluid then contaminates the groundwater supply and surface water if there is a spillage. The noise pollution that is caused by the transport of the fluid to the site, as the process site is usually active for around 3 - 7 years, the noise created can have the same effect on us and wildlife, as when living close to an
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