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Hydrofracking: Is it Worth the Risk?
Author(s) -
Easley Paul R.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
opflow
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1551-8701
pISSN - 0149-8029
DOI - 10.1002/j.1551-8701.2011.tb03096.x
Subject(s) - hydraulic fracturing , human health , environmental science , watershed , groundwater , environmental engineering , environmental planning , waste management , natural resource economics , environmental protection , petroleum engineering , engineering , environmental health , computer science , economics , medicine , geotechnical engineering , machine learning
This article discusses the increase of hydrofracking in the last few years as a way to extract gas from sizable but hard‐to‐reach deposits. The hydrofracking process technology is discussed, along with environmental and human health concerns associated with hydraulic fracturing that include the contamination of groundwater, risks to air quality, the migration of gases and hydraulic fracturing chemicals to the surface, and potential mishandling of waste. The potential costs associated with possible environmental cleanup processes, loss of land value, and human and animal health concerns are undetermined. The process introduces hundreds of tons of fracturing chemicals into a watershed over a period of several decades and could be accompanied by gradual dispersion of low levels of toxic chemicals into the environment and water supplies through multiple pathways.