Focus on Fracking: Investigating the Risks and Regulations of Natural Gas Extraction

Brian Archambault

Natural gas has become an increasingly important component of the United States
economy in recent years. In 2008, for example, the country relied upon natural gas for 23.8% of
total energy consumption, mostly in industrial, residential, and commercial sectors (McLamb,
2010). For a natural resource which is so heavily extracted and utilized in the modern day, it is
important to consider its means of extraction and the impacts on the environment, just as one
would weigh the costs and benefits of reliance on oil or coal, given the importance of energy as
both a good and service. The usage of natural gas itself dates back many years, primarily being
extracted from conventional sources such as those found above pockets of oil or isolated
pockets of gas, which are mostly comprised of methane. It is no wonder, however, that many of
these reserves have been tapped, a situation which demonstrates the peril of only developing
our methods of extraction of non-renewable sources of fuel. Inevitably, the industry ends up
relying on constantly more extreme and unconventional methods to reach larger reserves which
can satisfy the global demand for energy. The result temporarily delays the inevitable Hubberts
peak which befalls any such exploitation of rapidly depleting resources.
In recent years, the United States and other nations have begun to rely on a new
method of natural gas extraction which requires an entirely different approach. This new method
of extraction is known as fracking. It relies on a layer of shale beneath the surface which is rich
in gases such as methane along with other hydrocarbons. To extract the gas, it requires the use
of fracturing the shale which allows the natural gas to flow. By utilizing such sources as shale,
the predicted reserves have increased significantly, which makes it likely that the worlds
reliance upon these sources of natural gas with continue to increase. There is some concern,
however, that reliance upon this method may cause both water pollution and release of
methane into the atmosphere. Another drawback to utilizing hydro-fracking wells is the immense

quantity of water which is needed to fracture the shale and eventually transport it, which
somewhat offsets the advantages natural gas has over other fossil fuels in terms of emissions.
Given that hydro-fracking requires the injection of fluid into the shale layer, there is a
potential for groundwater to be contaminated by chemical additives, which usually comprise no
more than 0.5% of the solution, mainly consisting of sand/silica and water. The danger of
contamination which is posed is still being investigated by various groups, as there appears to
be some correlation between fracking activity and pollution or instability, although such
variability is likely dependent on the geology of the area. On a similar note, it has recently been
proposed that companies involved in hydro-fracking must reveal the components of their
solutions on the public website Frackfocus (http://www.fracfocus.org/ ) However, the neutrality
of this site could be called into question, and companies are not required to reveal proprietary
additives. Overall, it seems that the storage of hydro-fracking fluid and its transport, along with
surface emissions, spills, and the potential for other errors in a loosely regulated market are
more likely to contribute to contamination and detrimental effects than the process itself.
The recent expansion of the hydro-fracking industry, which now comprises a significant
percentage of the United States total production of natural gas has occurred in a relatively
unrestricted market. In fact, there are exemptions for hydraulic fracking in the Clean Water Act
as well as the Safe Drinking Water Act among others. These exceptions were created because
Congress believes that hydraulic fracking is safe enough with current regulations or is better left
up to individual states to monitor. This decision, however, has caused a myriad of inconsistent
legislation which regulates some portions of hydrofracking wells in some areas and regulates
different portions in others despite the process as a whole remaining similar. Even in recent
attempts to enforce universal disclosure and basic regulations through federal law, the result
has been legislation which fails to satisfy neither environmental groups nor those invested in the
industry.

In the future, it would be beneficial to regulate the industry through federal regulation to
at least mandate full disclosure, while also investigating and mitigating issues which could lead
to spills and emissions into either the air, water supply, or even sound pollution as a result of
drilling which can have a significant impact on surrounding communities. This is not to say that
the process of fracking is completely without merit, as it even as a non-renewable carbon based
source of energy, still provides the fuel which our industry demands. However, other alternatives
should be developed as even unconventional reserves of fossil fuel are eventually exhausted
and end up still disrupting the environment as carbon dioxide and methane are released.

Resources
Diane Rehm Show (NPR)
http://thedianerehmshow.org/audio/#/shows/2015-03-23/the-obama-administration-releases-thefirst-federal-regulations-on-fracking/109737/@00:00
Fracfocus Website (searchable by state, PDFs with chemicals, etc. Also information about the
process
http://www.fracfocus.org/hydraulic-fracturing-how-it-works/hydraulic-fracturing-process
Fracking Laws and Loopholes
http://cleanwater.org/page/fracking-laws-and-loopholes
New Federal Regulations - NYTimes Article
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/21/us/politics/obama-administration-unveils-federal-frackingregulations.html?_r=0
Non-Renewable Energy Information
http://www.ecology.com/2010/09/15/secret-world-energy/
Process of Fracking
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lB3FOJjpy7s

Gaslands intro (password: ssft) https://vimeo.com/72747924

Fracturing of Pennsylvania
http://tinyurl.com/6vahf8l -

Basic Information About Benzene in Drinking Water

http://water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/basicinformation/benzene.cfm