Anthony Kestas

Ms. Hughes
English 1101
4, November 2014
What the Frack is the problem
In current society there are many terms we throw around on a daily basis. One of the
most common terms that is continually brought up on an economic and environmental spectrum
is the term fracking, short for hydraulic fracturing. Fracking as stated by Mr. Bryan Walsh is,
The technique, which involves the use of explosives, chemicals and millions of gallons of water
to create tiny fractures in shale thousands of feet underground, has unlocked new supplies of
natural gas long considered too difficult and expensive to tap. With all of this new energy
locked under U.S. soil, why are there not a pumping station being drilled and tapped at every
possible geographic location? What are the major anti fracking issues? As many people may
know and understand Americans are a very oil dependent, and a mass energy consuming nation.
For much of the eighties, nineties, and into the new millennium, U.S. citizens used and burned
Middle Eastern or foreign oils and Russian natural gas for different types of energy. It has put a
large dent in many peoples wallets, with the cost of gasoline going over four dollars. Having an
almost immediate geographical and domestic power source seems like a no brainer. Yet many
are against hydraulic fracturing, for more reasons than one.
The sand, water chemical solution is pumped into the earth under extreme pressure down
to the small fractures that were made in order to re-open and expand. The sand; is actually a
specific size and granule type which is capable of sliding into these crevasses and propping them
open; the technical name is proppant sand. The water chemical solutions, Which specially
blended liquid mixtures are pumped into oil and gas wells under high pressure causing
underground rock formations to crack and open up. According to John Craven, as he also

Anthony Kestas
Ms. Hughes
English 1101
4, November 2014
brings attention to, Oil and gas companies have traditionally protected the composition of these
proprietary liquids through state-level trade secret laws. Many want to know why the oil and
gas companies are hiding these secret recipes. Are they protecting new chemical technologies, or
are these companies hiding illegal environmentally hazardous activities. When drilling
companies claim trade secret protection for their fracking formulas, they deprive the public of
information essential to evaluating potential health risks and determining what steps are
necessary to ensure their safety, suggests Craven, these drilling companies are pumping rock
dissolving solutions into the earth, in order to soften and remove the oil and natural gas locked
inside the shale. Chemicals used in fracking operations near the central Wyoming farming town
of Pavilion were found in a drinking-water aquifer near the area. It has also shown high levels of
benzene concentrations in the area's drinking water, revealed by Daniel McGlynn. The major
risk to the earth as a whole is the simple fact that drilling companies are being allowed to pumps
millions of gallons of poison into the earth. The proppant sands allow this solution to flow into
the fissures where many crude oil and natural gas bubbles are locked. All of this is done under
extreme pressures from the earth and the large pumping trucks on the top side of the well. The
well is then blocked off under pressure for a period of time allowing the chemicals to stew and
break down the rock, gas and oil. After the stewing period has expired the blocking is removed
and the well is ready to be pumped out.
This process of fracturing has actually been around since the early 1940, which many
find as news to them that fracking has been going on so long. In 2014 why is the term
hydraulic fracturing such a hot button word? A major player in this eye brow raising issue is

Anthony Kestas
Ms. Hughes
English 1101
4, November 2014
that in the early 2000s the advent of the horizontal drilling technologies became available. This
is the process of drilling down to a set depth and then turning the drill bit ninety degrees and the
being able to continue on for a couple of miles or kilometers. Horizontal drilling allows one well
to tap considerably more shale rock formations. Its considerably cheaper and easier to keep the
drilling platform in one location and just drill to where ever you may need to frack, as opposed to
moving the rigs and then having to re-drill to the set depth. Many drilling companies are then
capable of drilling wells under local infrastructure without the burden of having to purchase new
properties because of zoning and health reasons.
U.S. citizens have many amazing rights and freedoms; one right that is explicitly unique
to our country is Mineral rights. In other countries if the government does surveys and discovers
there is a particular mineral or type of well on land that you currently own, they have the means
and the rights to come in, kick a person off their land and begin extracting the new found
interest. Mineral rights allow United States land owners to not only purchase and own the dirt at
the top levels of the properties, but everything below the crust of the earth that is in the property
line also belongs to the land owners. If any one person or companies want to drill into or through
said properties, they must have the land owners permission to-do so. Generally the best means
of persuasion come in a check with many zeros at the end of said persuasive number. Contracts
can then be written up and the leasing agreement is made. Drilling companies maintain that
another benefit of horizontal drilling is that generally drilling and well companies buy a lot of
neighboring land. Thus allowing them to have one centralized well cap and branch out into every
direction and drill directly under a neighborhood or your home.

Anthony Kestas
Ms. Hughes
English 1101
4, November 2014
Safety and liability is a major concern in the corporate world. Not only on the oil drilling
rigs for employees, but also for the local environments around the rigs and wells. There are
currently many standards set in place to protect the earth as a whole setup by United States
Environmental Protection Agency. The Federal Water Pollution Control Act was set up in 1948.
Which was then reorganized, brought up to times in 1978 and renamed the Clean Water Act set
up the laws that are still currently in place today, The CWA made it unlawful to discharge any
pollutant from a point source into navigable waters, unless a permit was obtained. As one may
assume though the 1978 CWA is once again out of times and certainly needs to be updated. The
major issue with fracking and horizontal drilling is that not all of the water, sand, chemical
solution is retrieved from the bottom of the well. While many wells are taken down to depths
thousands of feet below natural aquifers, there has been no proof that the fracking solution isnt
capable of seeping up to the aquifers. Considerable further testing must be done to establish a
minimum well depth to aquifer depth distance.
The second largest problem associated with hydraulic fracturing is what to-do with the
millions of gallons of contaminated water. This water cannot be released to the environment, and
cannot be sent to current sewage treatment plants as well. Fortunately for humans necessity is the
mother of invention, and new high tech ways of dealing with this toxic waste water, which has
created its own niche market. Further advancements in the cleaning of contaminated water, along
with closer monitoring of the water chemical solutions are certainly a priority for
environmentalist. The extraction and natural gas and crude oil from shale formations via
hydraulic fracturing is something that cannot be stopped. The American economy is a very

Anthony Kestas
Ms. Hughes
English 1101
4, November 2014
energy dependent system that will pay the high cost of fuels to heat their homes and run their
automobiles. But at what cost is that to the rest or the economy? Being a 100 % energy
independent nation will bring with it the American economy rising back to the top, as we will
once again have an important commodity to sell on the world market.

Anthony Kestas
Ms. Hughes
English 1101
4, November 2014
Works Cited
Walsh, Bryan. "The Golden Age." Time 179.20 (2012): 47-48. Academic Search Complete. Web.
6 Nov. 2014.
"Preferred Sands Proppant In Demand." Rock Products 116.12 (2013): 10. Academic Search
Complete. Web. 6 Nov. 2014.
Craven, John. "Fracking Secrets: The Limitations Of Trade Secret Protection In Hydraulic
Fracturing." Vanderbilt Journal Of Entertainment & Technology Law 16.2 (2014): 395424. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Nov. 2014.
McGlynn, Daniel. "New EPA Study Links Fracking, Water Pollution." CQ Researcher 21.44
(2011): 1062-1063. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Nov. 2014.
Steinway, Daniel M. Environmental Law Handbook. Nineteenth ed. New York: Government
Institutes: The Scarecrow, 2007. Print.