Essay --

Environmental decision-making has become a tool in the hands of communities and NGOs to oppose development projects that may benefit the larger society. Indeed it may be argues that such participation in environmental decision making limits economic progress. Fracking also known as hydro-fracking or hydraulic fracturing is the process of using millions of gallons of water mixed with sand and other variety of chemical commonly known as frack fluid to fracture shale rock thousands of feet below the ground and these fractures open allowing gas to seep back through the drill-hole and be extracted to the surface . It is the process by which natural gas ‘shale’ and oil are extracted from the ground by opening and widening fractures below the earth surface and injecting a mixture of water, chemicals and silica sand at high pressure into drilled wells in the earth to push the natural gas and/or oil onto the surface . Hydrofracking is a stimulation technique used to increase the yield of natural gas wells . In organically rich shale formations such as the Appalachian, Marcellus Shale, natural gas occurs in three ways: within the pore spaces of the shale, within natural vertical fractures or joints in the shale, and adsorbed to mineral grains and organic materials within the shale . Most of the recoverable gas is located in the pore spaces, but because the pores are tiny and insular, extracting gas from them is difficult. Because of shale’s low permeability, the vertical wells traditionally drilled in the Marcellus Shale and others yielded gas at a slow rate . Geologists noticed, however, that the most successful wells shared a common trait: a wellbore that intersects numerous fractures in the shale. These fractures in turn intersect oth... ...n the US has been in practice for a really long time and the percentage of proven environmental impacts caused by fracking are low. In a University of Texas study an estimate of approx. 1 million oil and gas wells have been drilled and fracked. News reports, public debates and environmental groups all have their respective facts and figure of the impact of fracking to the environment. There have been peer-reviewed scientific reports into the potential impacts of fracking but these studies show that risk of leakage for instance is dependent on the quality and integrity of the borehole casing and cement job rather than what is brought about by fracking. Other environmental impacts are dependent on the logistics and extraction plan. 1. Ground water contamination This is the most discussed issue raised about fracking, it is also the most serious environmental concern Essay -- Environmental decision-making has become a tool in the hands of communities and NGOs to oppose development projects that may benefit the larger society. Indeed it may be argues that such participation in environmental decision making limits economic progress. Fracking also known as hydro-fracking or hydraulic fracturing is the process of using millions of gallons of water mixed with sand and other variety of chemical commonly known as frack fluid to fracture shale rock thousands of feet below the ground and these fractures open allowing gas to seep back through the drill-hole and be extracted to the surface . It is the process by which natural gas ‘shale’ and oil are extracted from the ground by opening and widening fractures below the earth surface and injecting a mixture of water, chemicals and silica sand at high pressure into drilled wells in the earth to push the natural gas and/or oil onto the surface . Hydrofracking is a stimulation technique used to increase the yield of natural gas wells . In organically rich shale formations such as the Appalachian, Marcellus Shale, natural gas occurs in three ways: within the pore spaces of the shale, within natural vertical fractures or joints in the shale, and adsorbed to mineral grains and organic materials within the shale . Most of the recoverable gas is located in the pore spaces, but because the pores are tiny and insular, extracting gas from them is difficult. Because of shale’s low permeability, the vertical wells traditionally drilled in the Marcellus Shale and others yielded gas at a slow rate . Geologists noticed, however, that the most successful wells shared a common trait: a wellbore that intersects numerous fractures in the shale. These fractures in turn intersect oth... ...n the US has been in practice for a really long time and the percentage of proven environmental impacts caused by fracking are low. In a University of Texas study an estimate of approx. 1 million oil and gas wells have been drilled and fracked. News reports, public debates and environmental groups all have their respective facts and figure of the impact of fracking to the environment. There have been peer-reviewed scientific reports into the potential impacts of fracking but these studies show that risk of leakage for instance is dependent on the quality and integrity of the borehole casing and cement job rather than what is brought about by fracking. Other environmental impacts are dependent on the logistics and extraction plan. 1. Ground water contamination This is the most discussed issue raised about fracking, it is also the most serious environmental concern