What Is Fracking?

Fracking [frak-ing] : (noun) hydraulic fracturing.

Hydraulic Fracturing: (noun) a process in which fractures in rocks below the earth's surface are opened and widened by injecting chemicals and liquids at high pressure: used especially to extract natural gas or oil.

Hydraulic fractures can happen naturally by veins and dikes but many companies and governments have begun the process of fracking, which is when a crack or hole will be made in the rock to help release the natural gas. The reason this appeals to many different industries, oil companies or governments is because of the potential money earnings.

Areas rich in shale rock all over the world have been turning towards fracking in a hope that it might help the economic downfall. New Brunswick, Canada is just one of the many areas in question. Fracking is when holes are drilled into shale rock to release the natural gas inside.  Fracking is so controversial to neighbours of these explorations and environmentalists alike because of the risks that are involved in the process and the after-effects it may have. Hundreds of people in the US alone are currently sick because of what fracking has done to their water supply! Two minor earthquakes have happened on the Lancashire coast in Britain in 2011 near where the fracking was taking place. The question is, was all of this caused by negligence, or the fracking itself?

Some sources state that the 14 leading oil and gas service companies has used approximately 750 different chemicals, including dangerous substances such as benzene, a known human carcinogen, and lead, a probable human carcinogen. 

                          "Between 2005 and 2009, the oil and gas service companies used hydraulic fracturing products containing 29 chemicals that are known or possible human carcinogens, regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) for their risks to human health, or listed as hazardous air pollutants under the Clean Air Act."**

Twenty-nine known or possible human carcinogens, surely that makes the whole process unsafe and it should stop, right? Yet the companies are saying that the reason people are getting sick is because of faulty equipment or mistakes made by the workers, not the process itself. The industries say that as long as fracking is preformed correctly and efficiently then there shouldn't be any problems, but how can you ignore the visual evidence of contaminated water supplies? The companies are denying the risks involved in fracking and personally I think if they had come out directly to lay everything on the table we would be in a completely different situation. 

Currently, New Brunswick, Canada is teetering on the edge of joining this bandwagon. Being a poor province with plenty of shale rock it is definitely an option, but is it worth it? Who is telling the truth, the companies or the environmentalist? Can fracking perhaps be preformed harmlessly with minimal effect on our environment or is it a complete mistake that will render us citizens sick? Maybe fracking can be preformed differently and safer here but the evidence from previous expeditions remains and the chemicals used are frightening. Once more, it comes down to, is it worth the risk for the end result?

Sources: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14432401

                http://8020vision.com/2011/04/17/congress-releases-report-on-toxic-chemicals-used-in-fracking/ **

           http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/CancerCauses/OtherCarcinogens/GeneralInformationaboutCarcinogens/known-and-probable-human-carcinogens