DOES FRACKING CAUSE HEALTH IMPACTS? JUSTIN TAYLOR, KERLA MEJIA, MARIA CHIELLI

WHAT IS FRACKING? "HYDRAULIC FRACTURING” INVOLVES THE SMASHING OF ROCK WITH MILLIONS OF GALLONS OF WATER–ALONG WITH SAND AND A UNDISCLOSED ASSORTMENT OF CHEMICALS IN ORDER TO BRING GAS TO THE SURFACE THAT WAS PREVIOUSLY INACCESSIBLE CONTROVERSIAL OIL AND GAS EXTRACTION TECHNIQUE FRACKING IS NOT RARE! DEVELOPED IN LATE 1940’S THE 2005 ENERGY POLICY

HOW FRACKING WORKS VERTICAL WELL BORES ARE DRILLED THOUSANDS OF FEET INTO THE EARTH DRILLING THEN ANGLED HORIZONTALLY CEMENT CASING INSTALLED MASSIVE VOLUME OF WATER, FRACKING FLUID, CHEMICALS, AND SAND USED “FLOWBACK” WATER RETURNS TO THE SURFACE

HOW FRACKING WORKS (CONT.) SMALL EXPLOSIVES ARE USED TO OPEN UP THE BEDROCK THE FRACTURES ALLOW THE GAS AND OIL TO BE REMOVED FROM THE FORMERLY IMPERVIOUS ROCK FORMATIONS SITE ABANDONED AFTER THE WELL DOESN’T PRODUCE A LOT OF MONEY

STATES THAT ARE PARTAKING FRACKING IS ALREADY WIDESPREAD IN: WYOMING COLORADO TEXAS PENNSYLVANIA OHIO NEW YORK ??? *NEW JERSEY BANNED FRACKING*

BENEFITS OF FRACKING SMALLER FOOTPRINT: LESS SURFACE DAMAGE ON THE ENVIRONMENT EASIER TO RETRIEVE THAN OTHER SOURCES OF ENGERY RELIEVES THE NEED FOR IMPORTING ENERGY JOB CREATION 30% OF ELECTRICITY GENERATION WILL BE FROM NATURAL GAS BY 2040

RISKS AND CONCERNS CONTAMINATION OF GROUNDWATER METHANE POLLUTANTS & ITS IMPACTS ON CLIMATE CHANGE AIR POLLUTANT IMPACTS LARGE VOLUME WATER USE IN WATER-DEFICIENT REGIONS FRACKING-INDUCED EARTHQUAKES EXPOSURE TO TOXIC CHEMICALS BLOWOUTS DUE TO GAS EXPLOSION WASTE DISPOSAL WORKPLACE SAFETY INFRASTRUCTURE DEGRADATION

HOW DOES FRACKING COMPARE TO OTHER ENERGY SOURCES?

IMPACTS OF WATER QUALITY EACH WELL CAN REQUIRE UP TO 6 MILLION GALLONS OF WATER, AND UP TO 40,000 GALLONS OF CHEMICALS WELL SITE MAY NEED UP TO 2000 TANKER TRUCK TRIPS, PER FRACK A WELL CAN BE FRACKED UP TO 20 TIMES STORAGE FOR THE WASTE WATER CAN TAKE PLACE EITHER ON SITE, IN AN INJECTION WELL, OR IN OPEN AIR PONDS IN THE SURROUNDING AREAS TRANSPORT OF THE WASTE POSES A CONTAMINATION RISK OUTSIDE THE ACTUAL WELL LOCATION

WATER POLLUTION CHEMICAL ADDITIVES ARE USED IN THE DRILLING MUD, SLURRIES AND FLUIDS REQUIRED FOR THE FRACKING PROCESS THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (EPA) AND UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY (USGS) EPA MAKES COMPANIES PAY FOR EXPENDITURES EPA FORCES OIL COMPANIES TO PAY FOR WATER EXPENDITURES DURING DRILLING CONTAMINATION THE OIL COMPANIES APPEALED THE EPA ORDER, BUT WERE FORCED TO RECTIFY THEIR VIOLATIONS BY A FEDERAL JUDGE

SOLUTIONS TO WATER QUALITY & POLLUTION RECYCLING -DECREASES THE DEMAND OF FRESH WATER -DECREASES THE AMOUNT OF WASTE WATER USE PROPANE GEL INSTEAD OF WATER -NATURAL GAS LIQUID -VAPORIZES UNDER PRESSURE -CAN BE RECAPTURED AND REUSED AFTER IS VAPORIZES

AIR POLLUTION METHANE IS MORE POTENT THAN CARBON DIOXIDE GAS WELL EMISSIONS EQUAL 1-3 MILLION CAR EMISSIONS WYOMING OZONE LEVELS RECORDED AT 124 PPB OF OZONE LEVELS WORST AIR DAY OF THE YEAR FOR LOS ANGELES AT 114 PPB OF OZONE LEVELS ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY'S MAXIMUM HEALTHY LIMIT IS 75 PPB CRYSTALLINE SILICA IS A HAP AND A CARCINOGEN WHICH CAN CAUSE SILICOSIS -SAND IS A MAIN INGREDIENT USED IN THE FRACKING PROCESS THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY (NIOS): COLLECTED 11 AIR SAMPLES

AIR POLLUTION IMPROVEMENTS FLARING -90% DECREASE IN GHG EMISSIONS -CARBON DIOXIDE IS PRODUCED AS AN EFFECT -COMBUSTION EMISSIONS ARE PRODUCED AS AN EFFECT REDUCED EMISSIONS COMPLETIONS (REC) -LIMIT THE AMOUNT OF GHG EMISSIONS -NO DISADVANTAGES -COST EFFECTIVE

INDUCED SEISMICITY EARTHQUAKES NUMBER OF EARTHQUAKES INCREASED DRAMATICALLY OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS WITHIN CENTRAL AND EASTERN UNITED STATES NEARLY 450 EARTHQUAKES MAGNITUDE 3.0 AND LARGER OCCURRED IN THE FOUR YEARS FROM OVER 100 PER YEAR ON AVERAGE, COMPARED WITH AN AVERAGE RATE OF 20 EARTHQUAKES PER YEAR OBSERVED FROM EARTHQUAKES CONSTITUTE ANOTHER PROBLEM ASSOCIATED WITH DEEP-WELL OIL AND GAS DRILLING. SCIENTISTS REFER TO THE EARTHQUAKES CAUSED BY THE INJECTION OF FRACKING WASTEWATER UNDERGROUND AS “INDUCED SEISMIC EVENTS”

SOLUTION TO INDUCED SEISMICITY THE OHIO DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES CONCLUDED IN A STUDY THAT: “A PROPERLY LOCATED INJECTION WELL WILL NOT CAUSE EARTHQUAKES” IN ORDER FOR EARTHQUAKES TO OCCUR: -A FAULT MUST EXIST NEARBY -INJECTION WELL MUST HAVE A PATH OF COMMUNICATION TO THE FAULT RESEARCH THE LOCATION OF FUTURE PROPSED INJECTION WELLS BEFORE CONSTRUCTION

LEGISLATION IN THE UNITED STATES FEDERAL REGULATIONS ENERGY POLICY ACT OF 2005 SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT TOXIC SUBSTANCES CONTROL ACT CLEAN AIR ACT PENNSYLVANIA STATE REGULATIONS ACT 13: ADDED MORE REGULATIONS FOR UNG CHAPTER 78: PERMIT/APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS CHAPTER 78: EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLANNING REQUIREMENTS CHAPTER 79: WELL DRILLING AND USAGE CHAPTER 95: WASTEWATER TREATMENT REQUIREMENTS

ANTI-FRACKING OPINION CHEMICALS USED IN FRACKING DISRUPT HUMAN BODY’S REPRODUCTIVE HORMONES AND HORMONE RECEPTORS BACTERIA BREATHE IN IRON IN SOIL FROM FRACKING AND RELEASE ARSENIC THAT IS WATER SOLUBLE NOT ENOUGH REGULATION OF COMPANIES

ANTI-FRACKING OPINION 72 TRILLION GALLONS OF WATER USED IN THE UNITED STATES ALONE 360 BILLION GALLONS OF NON- BIODEGRADABLE CHEMICALS TO OPERATE WELLS METHANE CONCENTRATIONS ARE 17 TIMES HIGHER IN DRINKING WATER OF WELLS NEAR FRACKING SITES

“FRACCIDENTS” IN PENNSYLVANIA JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP, GAS WELL EXPLODED KILLING ONE WORKER AND INJURING OTHERS ASYLUM TOWNSHIP, IMPOUNDMENT FILLED WITH WASTEWATER EXPLODED PINE CREEK TOWNSHIP, GALLONS OF HYDROCHLORIC ACID SPILLED GRANVILLE TOWNSHIP, GALLONS OF HYDROCHLORIC ACID SPILLED DAYTON, RESIDENTS EVACUATED AFTER A HEAVY LEAK IN METHANE INDIANA TOWNSHIP, GAS WELL EXPLODED KILLING TWO WORKERS HOPEWELL, TONS OF WASTE SPILLED ON ROUTE 220 WARD TOWNSHIP, WELL BLOWOUT OCCURRED AND CONTAMINATED STATE PARK DIMOCK, PA- LEAKS OF ABOUT 8000 GALLONS OF DANGEROUS FLUIDS, NEARBY CREEK CONTAMINATED, RESIDENTS SICKENED FROM WATER, WATER WELL MYSTERIOUSLY EXPLODED, PETS AND HORSES IN AREA EXPERIENCED HAIR LOSS

COMMENTS/OPINIONS ON FRACKING MORE STUDIES NEEDED BETTER COMMUNICATION NEEDED IMPROVEMENT OF PUBLIC INFORMATION WE NEED ENERGY SOURCES BUT HEALTH IS A PRIORITY “WITH ADEQUATE SAFEGUARDS IN PLACE, SHALE GAS CAN BE EXPLOITED RESPONSIBILY IN WAYS THAT PROTECT BOTH THE ENVIRONMENT AND HUMAN HEALTH.” –US DEPT OF ENERGY

WORKS CITED INITIALLY-FOUND INITIALLY-FOUND UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY, “HYDRAULIC FRACTURING AND SHALE GAS PRODUCTION: TECHNOLOGY, IMPACTS AND REGULATIONS” PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION: LAWS, REGULATIONS AND GUIDELINES