Fracking crew works on a Pennsylvania hydraulic fracturing site. (Image credits: AP/Ralph Wilson retrieved from Metro Focus)
The future of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking – the act of forcing high-pressure fluids into the ground, causing natural gas and oil rich sands to the surface – is on shaky ground as more voices add to the concerns that the process is causing earthquakes, pollution, and safety issues. The technology holds the promise of providing billions of barrels of oil to the U.S., potentially replacing the need for any oil from the Middle East. Natural gas, one of the top energy producers in the U.S., is another resource mined using fracking processes.
Like all technologies that mine minerals from the earth, there is always the possibility of causing shifting of the ground. This is nothing new to the mining industry which has decades science – and regulations – to keep the practices safe for both miners and the surrounding terra firma. But the pollution of ground water and other safety concerns associated with fracking are adding up to cause regulators to get involved.
New Regulations
Colorado looks to be the first to ratchet up regulatory pressure on companies fracking in their state. The regulations are directed at the chemicals being used for fracking. Most companies try to keep their chemicals private, but the Colorado regulations will require disclosure of the general chemical family being used. This is an attempt to balance the needs of corporations to keep trade secrets while giving communities critical information.
The New Year’s Eve earthquake in Ohio tipped the Richter Scale ot 4.0 – the second of that size within days and the 11th within the year. The fact that all 11 quakes were within a two mile radius of a Youngstown fracking site have led do the State shutting down operations until the fluids used in the process can come up to the surface. Officials in Arkansas did the same earlier this year.
Fracking in the U.S. is nothing new both in terms of technology and regulation. Since the 1950s U.S. Geological Survey scientists have reported fracking as the cause of earthquakes. A 1967 quake near Denver hit 5.5 on the Richter Scale.
Recent Developments
Current concerns go beyond the recent earthquakes. Waste water, a by-product of fracking, is either stored in local retaining wells, hauled off to treatment sites, or simply stay in the ground. New regulations appear to be aimed at controlling waste water pollution, but it has yet to be seen how these regulations function in the real world as businesses adjust to the costs of following the new rules.
Fracking is still a promising process and may be the source of the majority of all oil and natural gas in the not-so-distant future. We know the technology works. The key will be to balance the long-term benefits with the side-effects of the processes.
