Write An Essay On Fracking

A principle concern in the fracking debate lies over the content of the “fracking fluid.” This fluid is used to increase pressure in shale formations and cause fractures that increase permeability and allow greater access and capture of liquid natural gas or other hydrocarbon products that would be otherwise inaccessible or require numerous more wells be drilled (He, Li, Liu, Barbot, Vidic, 2014). This fluid consists of water and chemical additives such as, “ friction reducers to optimize flow characteristics, biocides to inhibit biological growth, proppant material, such as well-sorted sand, to hold the fractures open, corrosion inhibitors to protect well casing, scale inhibitors to preserve the permeability of the proppant pack, and surfactants to aid in fluid recovery (He, 2014).” Also of concern is the content of “flowback,” or the fluid that reemerges from the well and is collected from the site once the well is no longer active, that may contain worrisome chemicals such as radionuclides, heavy metals/salts, and toxic organic compounds (Strong et al., 2013).
Some agencies and individuals are calling for an immediate halt to the process claiming that we are leaking tons of carcinogens, radionuclides, heavy metals/salts, and harmful hydrocarbons into our drinking water. The energy industry, and many proponents of the obvious economic advantages of fracking say these claims are misleading and overstated. They claim there is a lack of evidence to support these ideals, and much of the research being touted as proof of environmental impact is outdated, and does not reflect the current state of the art methods being implemented to mitigate toxic