The process, “hydraulic fracturing”, literally involves the smashing of rock with millions of gallons of water, along with sand and a undisclosed assortment of chemicals in order to bring gas to the surface. Developed in the late 1940’s to gain access to fossil energy deposits previously inaccessible to drilling operations, hydrofracking is a controversial oil and gas extraction technique.
There are many risks and concerns with hydrofracking like:
- Contamination of groundwater
- Methane pollution and its impact on climate change
- Air pollution impacts
- Exposure to toxic chemicals
- Blowouts due to gas explosion
- Waste disposal
- Large volume water use in water-deficient regions
- Fracking-induced earthquakes
- Workplace safety
- Infrastructure degradation
- • U.S. energy production (However, foreign companies are buying leases. The gas will be sold on the international market to highest bidders.)• Loss of property values
- Loss of county property tax revenues
- Greatly increased traffic and accidents
- Increased road damage from large trucks
- Increased need to repair roads (with your tax dollars which to do: repair roads or cut school budget?)
- Along with pros like…
- Short-term jobs for a few local people
- Short-term increased customers for local businesses
- Profit for a few land owners; profit for a few mineral rights owners
On a more positive note, researchers say that hydrofracking has provided the states with an overabundance of cheap fossil fuel and brought the United States from being a gas imported just a few years ago to the verge of being a net exported of natural gas.
