What the ‘Frick’ is Fracking?

A new media buzzword has come about that seems to pose a threat to the environment. Fracking, a word that has been thrown around over and over on various media outlets, has something to do with drilling for oil…but also something that hurts the environment. 

The basics of fracking are as follows:

1.      About two miles underground, there are layers of shale (layers under the earth rich with oil and natural gasses) sandwiching a layer of sandstone.

2.      Workers drill a cement-lined pipe deep down into the earth until they reach about 2 miles in.

3.      At 2 miles in, the pipe starts to dig horizontally into the layer of sandstone typically between the two layers of shale.

4.      The pipe, which is filled with tiny balls, then is filled with highly pressurized water/chemical mixture, which causes the balls to create cracks in the sandstone.

5.      Over a period of three days, the balls are sucked back up along with the water mixture, causing the oil to also get sucked up to the top.

6.      The water and often hazardous chemicals are then redeposited into the earth underneath a layer of groundwater (as not to pollute the groundwater.)

The long-term environmental effects of fracking are yet to reveal themselves but only time will tell. Much of North America is covered in shoal, so many look to this as a sustainable way to lessen American dependency on foreign oil. There are, however, many environmental risks in letting fracking go under regulated.

Sinkholes have all of a sudden become more common in America. In a state that once did not even offer sinkhole insurance, Florida has experienced its fair share of this strange natural disaster. Sinkholes can occur suddenly and without warning. Many people have been in their own homes when they started to feel a “mini earthquake” and watched as half of their home gets swallows into the ground. From 2006-2009, the number of reported injuries and home damages doubled due to sinkholes.

Maybe fracking and sinkholes have nothing to do with each other, but it never hurts to play it on the safe side. It’s almost like environmental concern has all of a sudden moved to the front of everyones minds. With all of these strange environmental events (OK tornado, FL sinkholes, unusually hot temperatures) it’s hard not to go out and buy new light bulbs or opt for cups made out of bioplastics instead of Styrofoam.

Whether the sinkholes have anything to do with fracking or not, the long term effects are still unknown to us, which is the most frightening part of it all. Depositing a biohazard into the earth doesn’t seem like such a good plan, even if it is placed slightly below the groundwater. What if somehow the chemicals get into our drinking water and poison the source? It would be unfortunate for people to get sick or hurt over fracking when it doesn’t even have to be done. The outlook is grim, though. By 2020, the number of fracking related oil wells is said to double.