Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
6
Hydrofracturing is not a gentle process. Sucking oil and gas from dense shale form-
ations involves drilling, explosions, toxic chemicals, and millions of gallons of wa-
ter pumped at crushing pressures. Drillers maintain that these processes are well
understood and tightly controlled and take place far below groundwater supplies.
But ultimately the safety and quality of a well is dependent on the operator, the
particularities of each site, local regulations and politics, and many other details
that can get lost amid the chaos of a drill pad. As the shale revolution has gained
momentum, it has provoked an increasingly vocal backlash, with protestors from
people worry that in the rush to embrace shale energy Congress granted hydro-
frackers special exemptions from federal regulations—the Clean Air Act, the Clean
Water Act, and the Safe Drinking Water Act—without thinking through the poten-
tial health and environmental consequences.
While most hydrofracturing has been conducted responsibly, the industry does
not have a perfect track record: from time to time, gas wells blow out, water sup-
plies are poisoned, soil and air are polluted, and the health of people and anim-
als is compromised. Protests over these incidents have inflamed “fracktivists.” The
debate over the Keystone XL pipeline—which could bring tar sands oil from Al-
berta Canada to the Gulf Coast—has raised the specter of groundwater pollution
by fracking. And a spate of accidents by large resource companies—the explosion
of BP's
Deepwater Horizon
, which caused the worst offshore oil spill in US his-
tory; an oil leak in Brazil and a refinery fire in California by Chevron; the fumbled
attempt to drill in the Arctic by Royal Dutch Shell; and a rupture in ExxonMobil's
Pegasus pipeline that spilled crude oil in an Arkansas housing development—have
stiffened opposition to shale exploration. Each of those companies is also engaged
in hydrofracking.
