Cause and Effects of Fracking
The Problem With Fracking Fracking is a drilling process that injects millions of gallons of water, sand, and chemicals under hi pressure into a well, cracking the rock to release natural gases and oil. It is beginning to become scientifically linked to creating earthquakes by aggravating the faults. But before we talk about how it is causing earthquakes, we must first go into detail on the complete process of fracking. Fracking site drills 6000ft through aquifer toward shell – then drill horizontally which can reach up to 4000ft. Then a specific tool known as a Perforation Gun is deployed down the hole vertically and horizontally. When this gun is set off, it creates fractures in the Marcellus Shale, which is located along Pennsylvania, New York, and West Virginia. these fractures in the shale then begin to release methane gases. This is a problem because Marcellus Shale has enough natural gases to supply all USA gas needs for 14 years. They then pull out the perforation gun and enter another type of pipe. This pipe is unique because it has multiple layers with cement fill and steel casings to ensure that the pipe will not break. Once this pipe is put into place they begin pumping close to 8 million gallons of chemical filled fracking fluid down into the earth at high pressures. The idea is to have the fracking fluid fill the cracks in the shale that they previously created with the perforation gun. The problem with this is that the fracking liquid is so toxic that when it reaches the shale it is exposed to extreme pressures and corrosiveness and begins to expand creating new fractures in the shale. They then attempt to recover the fracking fluid from the depths of our planet but only 25%-50% of the actual fluid is recovered during the process. The small amount of toxic liquid that they do recover is then stored in lined pits. Most of the time these pits are not liked correctly and are subjected to leaks. This is where the big problem begins to occur