In Love County, Oklahoma a swarm of earthquakes have been reported since September 17, 2013 when fracking had began in the County. They were occurring a shallow depths which are consistent with the injection depths, but this area has had the same shallow quakes in the past. The casual connection between hydraulic fracturing and earthquakes continues to be unresolved, studies and experts have produced research and opinion on both sides of the issue. Oklahoma state geologist G. Randy Keller called the claims "a rush to judgment," while Interior Department Deputy Secretary David Hayes said his teams have found "no evidence to suggest that hydraulic fracturing itself" is the cause of earthquakes.  (The Hydraulic Fracking Blog)

The Idaho Department of Water Resources is nearing the end of the rule making to develop Idaho rules for underground injection wells to dispose of used fracking fluids and other natural gas wastes. Rather than sending these wastes off to an appropriate treatment facility, the gas industry wants permission to pump it into the ground. During the last legislative session The Idaho Department of Water Resources said that using fracking fluids that contained cancer causing chemicals was okay because much of the fracking fluid would be pumped back up to the surface when the gas was produced. Now it seems that the industry wants permission to pump these chemicals back into the ground. (Idaho Fracking Update)

(I know that I copied and pasted this but I really liked it and it relates to my topic...kinda)

When I was born,
Nature was already dying.
At the age of five,
Only half of the wetlands in the US remained.
When I was only ten,
Almost half of the world's forests had been destroyed.
By the time I was twenty,
The world's oceans had over 400 dead zones
Where no life could be supported.
When I turned twenty six,
Tens of billions of pollinating insects had died worldwide.
By the time I am forty,
Half of the Amazon Rainforest will be eliminated.
By the time I am fifty,
Lions will be extinct in the wild.
By the time I am sixty,
Many of the world's glaciers will have disappeared.
By the time I am seventy,
Ninety five percent of the world's coral reefs will have died off.
By the time I am eighty,
Two billion people will not have access to clean water.
By the time I am ninety,
Nine billion people will live on the planet,
It would take three entire Earths to sustain them,
We will not even have one.
By the time I leave this Earth,
The Nature I knew and loved,
Will be gone.

(http://frackedagain.blogspot.com/)

Union workers, farmers, landowners and local businesses on Monday announced they have formed a grass roots coalition striving for a chance to grow natural gas drilling jobs by tapping into the Marcellus Shale beneath many of New York’s counties. Coalition members say that the Southern Tier is one of the most depressed regions in the nation the past decade and is being denied a chance at economic progress by people who are from other parts of the state. They see hydraulic fracturing as that chance. (Times Union Blog)

 Multiple mainstream media outlets have covered a new report touting the economic benefits from hydraulic fracturing without disclosing the report's industry funding. The recently released study, titled "America's New Energy Future: The Unconventional Oil & Gas Revolution and the US Economy," received widespread media attention. The report was commissioned by multiple fossil fuel organizations that stand to benefit from growth in the oil and gas industry. According to the report, the increase in unconventional oil and natural gas extraction has added an average of $1,200 in discretionary income to each US household in 2012, and now supports 1.2 million jobs projected to increase to 3.3 million by 2020. (Media Matters)

Hickman, M. (2013, October 15). What lies beneath: Is the ground underneath your home ripe for fracking? Mother Nature Network, Retrieved from http://www.mnn.com/your-home/at-home/blogs/what-lies-beneath-is-the-ground-underneath-your-home-ripe-for-fracking

Matt Hickman talks about fracking corporations that are trying to take away peoples home so that they can get the shales, a fight between the people and a company. Homes that are built on soil that is rich for fracking are trying to be torn down so that they can get to the soil and get the necessary mineral that they want. These homes were built before fracking was even created, now it's a case of did the home owners know about what was under their homes and will they let the companies come and frack by their homes. Owners may know what's under their house or not but the companies want what's under these homes.


Urbina, I. (2011, August 3). A Tainted Water Well, and Concern There May Be More. New York Times, Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/04/us/04natgas.html

Rex W. Tillerson, the chief executive of ExxonMobil, says that not one water well has been contaminated since the beginning of fracking, the EPA fights this and says that there has been many cases like this. Eric Wohlschlegel dismissed the statement that sealed settlements have hidden problems with gas drilling, and he added that countless academic, federal and state investigators conducted extensive research on groundwater contamination issues, and have found that drinking water contamination from fracking isn't very likely. Over hundreds of cases are found everyday from fracking accidents and written off that it was from fracking. Most drilling experts have said that contamination of drinking water with fracking liquids is not likely. Even critics of fracking tend to agree that if wells are designed properly, drilling fluids should not affect underground drinking water.


Lustgarten, A. (2014, May 13). Chesapeake Energy’s $5 Billion Shuffle. ProPublica, Retrieved from http://www.propublica.org/article/chesapeake-energys-5-billion-shuffle

A Chesapeake fracking company is going into debt because it had borrowed to much money and now can't pay it back because they didn't find anything.  Aubrey McClendon was being pilloried for questionable deals, its stock price was getting hammered and the company needed to raise billions of dollars quickly.  The money could be borrowed, but only on onerous terms. Chesapeake, which had burned money on a lavish steel-and-glass office complex in Oklahoma City even while the selling price for its gas plummeted, already had too much debt. Last month, Pennsylvania governor Tom Corbett, who is seeking reelection, sent a letter to Chesapeake’s CEO saying the company’s expense billing “defies logic”and called for the state Attorney General to open an investigation.

Ahmed, A. (2014, May 10). Ohio earthquakes linked to fracking . Aljazeera America, Retrieved from http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/3/10/ohio-earthquakeslinkedtofracking.html

This earthquake in Ohio could mark the very first that can be directly linked to fracking in the area, the quakes registered magnitudes of 3.0 and 2.6. Ohio authorities shut down a hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, natural gas operation in Mahoning County on Monday after two earthquakes were felt in the area, near the Pennsylvania border, local newspapers and broadcasters reported. Two smaller earthquakes were also reported later in the day. The use of fracking has increased significantly in the United States over the past decade. Five years ago, the U.S. produced 5 million barrels of oil per day; today, it's 7.4 million, due largely to fracking.

The truth about fracking and the environment. (2004, May 13). The Wilderness Society, Retrieved from http://wilderness.org/article/truth-about-fracking-and-environment?gclid=CNr5n_z1q74CFQVsfgod3YMAqQ

Fracking is done by drilling deep into the earth, then using small explosions and a mix of water, sand, and chemicals to break up shale rock formations that contain natural gas and oil. Unfortunately, this process can go wrong, and if the oil or gas wells are not built sturdily enough, they can leak and contaminate groundwater. “Flowback” water can contaminate streams and water supplies. The rush into fracking has not kept pace with important environmental safeguards.Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” is revolutionizing oil and gas drilling across the country. However, without rigorous safety regulations, it can poison groundwater, pollute surface water, impair wild landscapes, and threaten wildlife.Hydraulic fracturing operations are already industrializing wild and rural landscapes, and putting agricultural and recreational economies at risk.

Fracking

The topic that I have selected is fracking, fracking is: Fracking is the process of drilling down into the earth before a high-pressure water mixture is directed at the rock to release the gas inside. Water, sand and chemicals are injected into the rock at high pressure which allows the gas to flow out to the head of the well. It is the process of extracting natural gas from shale rock layers deep within the earth. Fracking makes it possible to produce natural gas extraction in shale plays that were once unreachable with conventional technologies. Recent advancements in drilling technology have led to new man-made hydraulic fractures in shale plays that were once not available for exploration.

 

 The reason I picked this topic is because I believe that people are unaware of the consequences that fracking has and how very harmful it is.