Pros And Cons Of Fracking

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Fracking is a process that injects liquid at a high pressure within the earth in order to tap into vast reserves of natural gas in shale layers. This technological process began in the late 1940’s under the Truman administration and has grown in prominence as the years have passed - especially in the western United States where it is more sparsely populated. In the early 1990’s an updated fracking process (horizontal drilling) was engineered to allow energy corporations to frack closer to the deposits and reap multiplied results. Moreover, the success of fracking in the petroleum industry has lead to a foray into the technique by the mining industry in order to capture deep reserves of valuable natural resources. However, fracking is not without controversy - for many decades, fracking has been accused of causing earthquakes due to the disruption of the underground layers of rock. As well, fracking has also been accused by various environmental groups of polluting the environment and leading to the contamination of local water supplies. This controversy has not halted the advance of the fracking industry, however, with the number of wells doubling since 2000. Energy is a prominent topic in…show more content…
Without water the entire human race would be poised to fall into oblivion - thus raising the concern of possible contamination of hydraulic fracturing sites in regards to the local drinking supply. According to Trevor Smith of Chemical Engineer Progress, the possibility of contamination ranges due to a variety of circumstances and actions taken by hydraulic fracturing organizations. Hydraulic fracturing occurs through the use of a hydraulic fluid and when improperly stored after usage (usually it will be put in the ground again) could lead to contamination of local aquifers that provide water to local populations. The contamination of local aquifers presents a serious concern to the stability of communities affected by the

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