Fracking Essay - Grade: C PDF

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Essay looking at the impact Fracking has on the environment and society...

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Fracking: The environmental and social harm. The issue of Hydraulic Fracturing which is commonly known as fracking is a very controversial issue in society, not just in Britain but worldwide. Fracking is seen to have a vast amount of both environmental and societal issues. Fracking falls into the category of unconventional method for retrieving resources such as oil and gas. This issue is not a new topic as the production of shale oil in West Lothian; Scotland has been extraverted for around seventy years and in America fracking and similar concepts being present in since the Civil War in 1862. There are a number of major environmental issues which has lead this method of extraction so controversial and also the reasons as to why fracking which is historically a more unpopular method of retrieving oil and gas, now becoming back into debate. Fracking is used for the extraction of the natural gal called Shale and can be simply defined as a process of drilling into the ground and then injecting a high-pressured water amalgamation directly into the rock to then release the natural gas which is inside the rock. The high pressure then projects the gas out of the top of the well.Fracking is not a new method of drilling as the principles of this method invented during the Civil War in America and the first commercial fracking field being used in 1947 and today’s method of Fracking coming into use in the 1990s due to technological advancements such as combining the original method with drilling horizontally. Even though Fracking has been around in the oil and gas industry for a long period of time it is only recently that the issue is again being considered as a viable method for the extraction of resources. This is due to a number of issues both environmentally and socially. The reasons as to why this method is becoming more desired is due to the environmental impact other methods such as conventional drilling are having. For instance there is a global panic regarding the issue that due to continuous drilling there is a lack of oil being produced and more harm being done to the environment. In order to better understand the environmental concerns of fracking, the use of a case study is essential. The Journal titled ‘regulating hydraulic fracturing in shale gas plays: The case of Texas gives a good insight into the ‘real life’ implications of fracking. Rahm states a number of environmental issues in this case study. When debating the environmental issues of fracking one of the strongest arguments against this method of drilling is the evidence found that due to the fracking disturbing the water table it leads to water contamination. This is a major issue when looking at whether to continue or increase the amount of fracking in places such as Doncaster and Yorkshire in England. This matter is also taken hugely into consideration when looking at new potential fracking sites, which have lately been published as being mainly in the central belt and boarders of Scotland. Currently there are a vast number of researches done into the environmental issue of water contamination, in the fracking process; chemicals are injected along with the water at a high-pressure which then leads to these waters spreading into the soil and water. A number of studies have found that the wells near to fracking sites tested dramatically higher for chemicals such as methane once the fracking has commenced and also studies showing the levels of chemical pollution after these cites had been closed. This environmental issue is also mentioned in the case study about Texas Fracking sites. Rahm mentions how the contamination of water resulted in seizures and miscarriages. Rahm also states that seventeen cows were found dead in a ranch in Texas which was down to the contamination of water and soil.

The issue of water contamination is again being debated due to new political proposals for the progress of increasing fracking production due to the down turn of conventional oil drilling. A fairly obvious environmental concern attached with this method of retrieving natural oil and gas is the level of noise and air pollution it produces. Fracking is not a quiet process and causes a lot of noise both on fracking sites and in the surrounding area. Due to the machinery, Diesel emissions and emissions of Hydrocarbons fracking causes a huge amount of air pollution which can lead to a number of health problems within society. The health risks which can be seen to be attached to communities close to fracking sites are irritation of eyes and throat causing coughs and shortness of breath. The more serious problems which can be caused to a long period of exposure in either the communities or the work men on the site include respiratory disease and cardiovascular problems. This can again be supported in the mentioned case study which details of an explosion in Texas as a result of a gas leak. This is a huge problem which needs to be closely monitored due to a vast amount of wells leaking. The residence in Texas located near to the explosion also had medical check ups for a number of moths after. The results showed that over half of the house holds has a number of toxins found in urine and blood samples. Thus highlighting the true dangers of using fracking, especially in heavily populated areas. There are a number of smaller environmental concerns highlighted with the fracking debate. An environmental concern which is often overlooked is that fracking can cause small earthquakes. These earthquakes are normally so small that they can’t actually be felt but in certain areas around the world the higher frequency of small earthquakes and the earthquakes themselves can cause serious damage to the land structure and the environment. Also overlooked is the issue of oil spills which can cause a vast amount of harm to the environment in a number of ways. The spillage of oil can cause harm to the soil, organisms and animals living in that area and often leads again to water contamination. The driving argument for stopping the use of fracking is its effect on climate change and there are a number of studies supporting this claim, in particular the case study conducted by Green Peace which looks at the impacts of extracting and burning natural gas. Climate change is a very big concern in today’s society with a large proportion of countries all over the world trying to cut their emissions as much as possible. Many believe that natural gasses have around half the emissions as coal which is true to an extent. However, taking into account the extraction and a number of other factors such as a large amount of fracking wells leaking the emissions into the environment as the same as if they were extracting coal. Thus, leaving fracking as equally as bad to the environment as the more conventional methods. This case study looks at a number of states and the effects of fracking in each state. This study highlights that even the new advancements to the fracking method are not helping the emission levels, these additions which were the Clean Air Act in America. The study concluded by highlighting that lowering emissions was not successful, as they have added around twenty-nine million tons of greenhouse emissions per year. Like any debate especially of the volume there are arguments for the positive impact fracking would have. A sway point for many on this matter is that in order to reserve what is left of the drilling in more conventional ways; this method will provide an economic boost in the sector. An economic boost can help both society and the environment in a number of ways. In terms of society the increase in fracking will create an influx of money into the oil and gas sector which is crumbling in the current climate. This will increase jobs boosting the infrastructure of struggling towns particularly in America, where the whole towns’ infrastructure often

depends on a particular trade. Fracking will be able to create and injection of new life into many areas around the world. The environmental benefits of fracking are often clouded by opinions; many of these benefits are similar to the negative side effects. From the previous literature published it is clear that the negative environmental impact fracking has is slowly decreasing with new technologies and a more cautious eye on the environment. Studies have shown that although earthquakes are a side effect of fracking the numbers of reported tremors is decreasing. In terms of new technologies preventing harm to the environment, fracking wells are being assessed to make them leak as little as possible. This will hopefully prevent any further contamination of water supplies and decrease the amount to emissions harming the atmosphere. It is important when looking at the arguments for the use for fracking to analyse the debate through the use of sociological issues focusing on the environmental aspect of the issue. There are a number of sociological issues that would apply to the environment in this nature. Firstly, we must look extensively into the issue of environmental Justice. Environmental Justice can be defined as the “fair treatment and meaningful evolvement of all people”. This is meaning all individuals regardless of ethnicity, skin colour and social class. Environmental Justice is extremely important as it ensures that the exact same level of protection is available from the environment and health concerns to all members of society. The concept of environmental justice is a relatively recent development with it being defined around the 1980s. The main objective of this particular issue is that not all members of society are of equal harm to environmental issues. Many believe that a very unjust issue across the whole of society and world wide. Studies show that the group that tend to be most at threat of environmental issues are those of ethnic origins. The ethnic minorities are more likely to be exposed to greater environmental harm due to their lack of political as well as economic strength as a group. The framework of the environmental justice theory can be broken down into three elements. Firstly, Procedural equity, this is the legislation and the governance that must be enforced in all areas. Secondly, geographical equity which is the equal distribution of chemical plants, drilling sites and any harmful facilities, this it to try stop these things being over populating lower class areas. The final branch of environmental justice is the social equity section. This is the process of decision making which must consider all ethnic backgrounds and economic statuses of individuals before the building of a new ‘harmful site. All these elements are extremely important when looking into the theory of environmental. The idea of this theory makes sense worldwide but when put into motion it is very rare that it is all carried out correctly. In many countries it is clear that the poorer areas have the greatest percentage of factories and hazard sites. Applying the theory of environmental justice to the broader issue of fracking uncovers a number of issues about the location of the fracking sites and the effects on the communities. As fracking is the extraction of natural gasses, sites must be located in areas which the gas is of large supply and accessible. In Britain the majority of fracking cites are defined as being located in large derelict areas but these ‘derelict’ areas are also some of the more economically poor areas of Britain such as Lanarkshire in Scotland and places like Sheffield and Nottingham. This is an obvious deviation from the theory that all environmental issues should be equal across society. In the poorer areas which already suffer from higher statistics in crime, lower age expectancy and much more, many of these problems will become worse with the added strain of new health issues caused by these environmental concerns.

Another sociological theory which intertwines with environmental justice is political ecology. This can be defined as the relationship between political, economic and social influences on environmental issues and changes. Similar to environmental justice, political ecology details many previously present political and economic differences throughout society. This meaning that the distributions of environmental issues are not equal in any society. These two similar theories are concerned with how the costs and the benefits are ‘equally’ distributed across the whole of society. Many of the new proposals for fracking sites are also in non-tory supporting districts which many believe to be a political move to ensure that constituencies in other areas still vote for the Conservative party. This does not adhere to the environmental justice definition of everyone in society being equal. Statistics how that areas like Nottingham have the lowest income in the country but also have a large amount of fracking sites just been licensed. This is clearly a breach of sharing all environmental burdens as those with poor economic status will suffer greatly through harm to their health due to the environment around them and the destruction of the environment of their community. As well as debating the main arguments against the use of fracking and also touching on why fracking could be beneficial to society, it is essential to also look at the ways in which problems could be resolved for future developments. Due to the slowing down of conventional methods of oil drilling has left Britain re addressing the issue of fracking with many political parties pushing for increasing the number of fracking cites across the country. In December 2015 the government licences 68 new fracking sites to a number of oil companies to carry out fracking along with a number of other drilling techniques. Although these companies have licenses to test the environment before drilling they still have to get further planning permission and also in some areas of Yorkshire in the national park actual fracking rigs have been banned. A Large proportion of society are strongly against the method of fracking with more than 50% of the population being against fracking a huge amount has to change before this method is accepted as a viable means of oil extraction in Britain. Similar to in America there is a significant lack of legislation and regulations to ensure safe and reduce environmental concerns when fracking. This is a major obstacle for fracking to become a cleaner and more popular method of drilling. Around the world there seems to be the same phenomena that fracking is mostly unregulated. One way that the environmental and social issues would decrease with the method would be if more funding was available. If more funding was available for this particular method of drilling then a more suitable board of regulators would be able to be appointed. This on its own does not seem to be a very important step but if the board of regulators receive better training and information on the matter then they will be able to act more accordingly and hopefully resulting in a more environmentally friendly method and be more socially accepted. One of the main reasons why fracking is such an unpopular method is due to the lack of extensive research carried out on the environmental impact, the social impact and how it can be improved. If the level of research is increased then many people will get a clearer view on the matters within this issue. Increasing the level of research can also lead to a better chance of spotting opportunities for improvement and also arising or new problems before the level of shale gas production increases in Britain. Although these are both viable ways of addressing how to make fracking a more viable and environmental drilling method, there are a number of obstacles in place to prevent this from happening. Firstly these oil drilling platforms are operated and run by the oil and gas sector which often do not have strict environmental regulations. The oil and gas sector is also one of the largest industrial investors in Britain, which results in many of the leader in this sector having connections in the political market. This can be connected to the political ecology

theory which looks at the economic, social and political motivations behind changing environmental issues. As the oil and gas industry is invested into the government it makes it more challenging to make the distribution of environmental issues to be equal. This leading to governments having very little or no intentions to create or enforce these regulations as they do not want to jeopardise the high connections in the oil and gas industry and the vast amount of wealth Britain gains from oil. Another reason why these ways to overcome environmental problems in fracking can prove difficult is due to the lack of interest into how much harm to the environment oil and gas extraction really causes. An example of this in in 2011 the British government showed their unwillingness to improve the environmental status of oil extraversion as when they received a report by the Environment and Climate Change Committee. The report detailed how the government must take action to reduce the emissions leading to climate change in Britain. The response was to just close a number of wells and disposal plants. In turn this actual made the situation worse as the unmonitored sites and poor regulations about what must be done with these types of environmentally harmful areas once they are closed lead to the wells leaking. As the above example shows, there is very little desire to make fracking an environmentally friendly and socially accepted method of drilling for oil and gal. Overall, it is said that of Hydraulic Fracturing most commonly known as fracking is the new and increasingly desired method of excavating natural gases and oil from the ground. However, this is not entirely the case. With this method comes a vast amount of environmental issues such as water contaminating and air pollution. There have been a number of new research studies suggesting that this is not the case however, there is very little evidence proving that fracking has little environmental and social harm. The use of a number of environmental based theories allows us to gain a greater understanding of the issue on a more worldwide level and also to give more understanding into the ways in which this method proves to be more challenging to regulate and increase popularity among citizens. Words before proof read: 3070...