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Your Voice: Fracking is a health risk to us all

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For years the United States fuel dependency has been on the Middle East and other places. Today 60 percent of the oil and natural gas the United States consumes is produced right in the U.S.. Fracking is a technique to get oil by tapping into an oil and gas reserve by drilling horizontally into underground shale formations and using high pressure liquid pumps to open cracks in the shale. Although Fracking in the U.S. has begun to change politics, I have found by reading multiple articles that although it is good in some ways fracking is also bad in many ways. During the process of fracking toxic chemicals leak out and contaminate nearby groundwater, harmful volatile organic compounds are released into the atmosphere contaminating air, and it overall is a safety hassle to people who live near these wells that are drilled.

First of all, it takes millions of gallons of water mixed with sand, and chemicals to frack just one well. Up to 600 chemicals are used in fracking fluid. When the fracking fluid is pressure injected into the drilled pipeline and eventually cracks the shale rock, places where the natural gas can flow into the well are created. During this process toxic chemicals leak out and contaminate the groundwater around the system. Well water is used as drinking water in nearby cities and towns. If the water is contaminated it causes big problems to people ingesting it. "There have been over 1,000 documented cases of water contamination next to areas of gas drilling as well as cases of sensory, respiratory, and neurological damage due to ingested contaminated water." If fracking continues to increase in the United States so will the number of Americans consuming contaminated water.

Thereafter, once the oils have been collected the fluid is left in air pits to evaporate. Once they evaporate in the air, volatile organic compounds are released into the atmosphere, contaminating air, creating acid rain, and ground level ozone. The air pollution caused from fracking is a threat to our health and the environment. When acid rain occurs and the droplets fall to the ground it kills plants and trees and harms animals, fish, and other wildlife. If a certain ozone level occurs it can cause serious health issues to humans, and harm plants and animals. Humans are more likely to get skin cancer when ozone occurs and animals are very susceptible to lung cancer. These reasons alone are valid enough to prove fracking is very dangerous, but there is more.

Overall, Fracking is a safety and health hassle to people who live around them. In a 2010 documentary filmed and directed by Josh Fox, all the examples in the last two paragraphs are supported. In the documentary people's faucet water had so many chemicals in it the water could be lit on fire. Throughout his road trip he interviews people across the US having the same problems from the fracking. No one seemed to be listening to the people about their problems from the fracking. Fox states, "The people I interviewed we're incredibly happy to have someone who was willing to listen to their stories because no one had been paying attention. The hardest thing about it was keeping it together; being in somebody's kitchen and having them talk to you about brain damage." People have hard enough lives without contamination making them have major health issues.

Although it is nice that gas prices are decreasing. Gas prices are decreasing because we are producing oil here on the US now. I do not believe that it is worth the risk to use fracking to produce oil, even though it is causing prices to decrease. Fracking is causing more problems than are being brought to the attention of US citizens. During the process of fracking toxic chemicals leak out and contaminate nearby groundwater, harmful volatile organic compounds are released into the atmosphere contaminating air, and it overall is a safety hassle to people who live near these wells that are drilled. You cannot be ignore what fracking causes, and too many people are being put at risk from contamination caused by fracking.

- Alexandra Sardinha
Senior, Noble High School

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