Why Should Hydraulic Fracturing Be Banned

Hydraulic fracturing is one of the most common methods of extracting natural gas from the earth. Many companies, such as Exxon Mobil, claim that it is safe and that there are no negative impacts because of hydraulic fracturing. However, many scientists and environmentalists think otherwise. There is scientific proof that hydraulic fracturing contaminates drinking water, produces wastewater that contains toxins and radiation, and, in rare cases, causes earthquakes. It is clear that Hydraulic fracturing should be banned because of all its negative side effects. To start off, to frack rocks deep underground to release the natural gas, high pressure fluid must be pumped through pipes and into the rock. The fluid “which [is] composed of about
99 [Sic] percent water” The other one percent accounts for up to “as much as 40,000 gallons of chemicals.” (Jaffe). With such a large amount of chemicals not accounted for, how can anyone be sure that hydraulic fracturing is safe. Companies take advantage of legal loopholes, to keep their chemicals a secret. They are legally able to label the chemicals as a “Trade secret” so that the public can not know what the actual chemicals are. This can cause people who live within two miles of a hydraulic fracturing site to worry. If they do not know what the chemicals are that are being pumped into the ground near them, they may not be able to trust local water sources. Many public facilities are within two miles if hydraulic fracturing wells, and are at risk of having contaminates soil, and drinking water. For example, “In Pennsylvania, more than 3,000 gas hydraulic fracturing wells and permitted well sites are located within two miles of 320 day care centers, 67 [Sic] schools and nine hospitals.” These facilities are at serious threat being so close to hydraulic fracturing wells. Many “toxic chemicals present in hydraulic fracturing fluid could cause cancer and other health problems” (“Hydraulic… Banned”). hydraulic fracturing should be banned before people near wells start to get sick because of hydraulic fracturing. There are many things that the United States can and should do many things about hydraulic fracturing to protect and keep its citizens safe.
First off, the United States should close any and all legal loopholes. These legal loopholes allow companies to do something that should be illegal, and make it legal. If the companies have less opportunities inside the law, they will have to find and use cleaner hydraulic fracturing methods to stay inside the law. The United States should also ban hydraulic fracturing altogether. Banning hydraulic fracturing will not only help public health, but will help motivate people to find other alternatives to natural gas and oil. If the United States invests more money into alternative energy sources, it will benefit the entire world in the long run. Water management is important so that everyone has access to clean water. When hydraulic fracturing wastewater gets into the local water table, the water becomes contaminated. ( “Hydraulic...banned” -”hydraulic fracturing.”). Every person deserves access to clean and safe water. If hydraulic fracturing is not banned, water supplies near to hydraulic fracturing sites will become contaminated and will lead to many people becoming ill because of an unclean water table.
(Lustgarten).

Hydraulic fracturing does not only have an affect on the water table, it can, in extreme cases lead to an earthquake. In 2016, and multiple earthquakes caused by hydraulic fracturing struck the state of Ohio. When thousands of gallons of water is pumped into the ground in order to fracture the rocks, sometimes the pressure causes an earthquake. There have been a number of accounts of earthquakes involving hydraulic fracturing. These earthquakes are a serious threat because of the damage it does to the hydraulic fracturing wells. Many companies keep their wastewater and chemical storage on site. If there happens to be an earthquake, some of the storage tanks may be damaged and start leaking. This will cause tremendous damage to the local ecosystem and water table. These earthquakes can also cause a lot of damage to nearby towns. Some of the earthquakes can reach a strength of magnitude four on the richter scale. Anything above a three point five magnitude quake is strong enough to collapse bridges and take down buildings. Many buildings near hydraulic fracturing sites are not built to withstand earthquakes because they are not near any major of any fault lines. Since there is no danger of natural earthquakes, they do not need to build their buildings to withstand strong magnitude earthquakes. Man made earthquakes are not one of the first consequences due to hydraulic fracturing that come in mind, but they may be one of the worst of all the consequences (Horwitt). Another major concern with hydraulic fracturing is that many wells tend to leak.
This leaking may occur while hydraulic fracturing fluids are being transferred from storage tanks to the wells, or it may leak out while it is being pumped into the ground. In both cases, toxic and radioactive fluids are leaking into the ground, and possibly into the local water table. If the local water table is exposed to these toxic fluids, it can affect the local population. This is a larger problem in rural areas that do not use large and advanced water filtration method to clean their water supply. This means that any hydraulic fracturing fluid that gets through to the local water table, can cause health problems for sick and young people.
(Ingraffea). One of the most common reasons a well will leak is because of faulty equipment. One out of seven wells that leak have either used fractured or flimsy pipes, old and outdated wells, or rubber hoses that can not hold the pressure of the hydraulic fracturing fluids. The government can not monitor all the wells throughout the United States, so they should ban hydraulic fracturing before someone gets seriously ill because of hydraulic fracturing fluids leaking into the local water table. (Song). In conclusion, hydraulic fracturing is not being done responsibly, and it is causing lots of damage throughout the United States. From man made earthquakes to contaminating local water tables, hydraulic fracturing has caused a lot of damage over the years. The only sure way to stop these consequences is to ban hydraulic fracturing in the United States.