2. What is it?
Hydraulic Fracturing, also known as “fracking,” is a method of extracting
natural gasses from the Earth that otherwise are unreachable. (What Is
Fracking?)
3. How It’s Done
By drilling into the Earth’s
crust, natural gas is able to
be extracted from shale
deposits. This is called
horizontal fracking.
(Gasland)
4. Once the well is constructed, high pressured
water and fracking liquids are poured into the
ground.
Because of this pressure, the shale rock cracks,
which allows for the natural gas to escape.
Hydraulic fracturing has allowed for the
collection of natural gas deep in the ground that
would have otherwise been unobtainable.
(Dangers of Fracking)
5. But with this discovery comes
great danger…
The practice of fracking has proven over and over again to be
wasteful of our recourses and endangering Earth and her
inhabitants.
6. People against fracking have very moving arguments.
They focus on the effect this industry has on the
communities it disrupts and the disruption of Earth.
7. Anti-Fracking:
• While the high pressured well
Environmental impact effectively cracks nearby
• Up to 400 tanker trucks are shale, methane gas as well as
needed to bring water and other toxic chemicals leak
supplies to and from the into the surrounding water.
fracking site. “Methane concentrations are
• Of 40,000 chemicals poured 17x higher in drinking-water
into the well, 600 chemicals wells near fracturing sites
are carcinogenic. Some of than normal wells.”
these include: lead, uranium, • After a fracking site is tapped
mercury, ethylene glycol, out, only 30%-50% of
radium, methanol, fracking fluids are recovered.
hydrochloric acid and The other 50%-70% is left in
formaldehyde the ground, none of which is
biodegradable
(Dangers)
8. Anti-Fracking:
Community Impact
• Due to well leakage,
over 1,000 cases
related to water
contamination which
have reported sensory,
respiratory and
neurological damage.
• Because of elevated
methane in drinking
water. As showed in
the movie Gasland, a
documentary,
homeowners are able
light their water on
fire.
9. 500,000 active wells
Add It Up X
8 million gallons of
water per fracking
X
According to the site,
Dangers of Fracking: 18 times a well can be
fracked
=
72 trillion gallons of water
And 360 billon gallons of
chemicals to run the wells
10. What can be done?
Fortunately, the vast majority of people believe that fracking
is a dangerous practice despite the job opportunities and
lower energy costs.
11. Anti-fracking organizations across America are hard
at work trying to promote a cleaner alternative to
energy, inform the public about the dangers of
fracking, as well as attempt to pass laws to regulate
this dangerous practice.
The FRAC Act (Fracturing Responsibility and
Awareness to Chemical Act) is a House of
Representatives bill that strives to repeal the
Halliburton Loophole, an energy bill that took away
the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to
regulate hydraulic fracking, and require natural gas
companies to disclose the chemicals used. (STOP
FRACKING NOW!)
12. Together We Can
Knowledge is power.
Informing our citizens
about how fracking effects
the environment and its
inhabitants can change
regulations on this practice.
13. Works Cited
• "What Is Fracking." What Is Fracking. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 July
2012. <http://www.what-is-fracking.com/>.
• "Gasland: A Film by Josh Fox." Gasland. N.p., n.d. Web. 27
July 2012. <http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/whats-
fracking>.
• "Hydraulic Fracturing." Dangers of Fracking. N.p., n.d. Web.
27 July 2012. <http://www.dangersoffracking.com/>.
• "STOP FRACKING NOW! Tell Congress to Pass the FRAC
Act." Stop Fracking Now! N.p., n.d. Web. 27 July 2012.
<http://stopfrackingnow.com/faq>.
14. Picture Credits
• "Fracking." The Colorado Observer. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 July 2012.
<http://thecoloradoobserver.com/2012/07/from-the-cheap-seats/fracking/>.
• "A Colossal Fracking Mess." Vanity Fair. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 July 2012.
<http://www.vanityfair.com/business/features/2010/06/fracking-in-pennsylvania-201006>.
• "Can Fracking Contaminate Drinking Water?" The Watchers. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 July 2012.
<http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2012/07/15/can-fracking-contaminate-drinking-water/>.
• "Digging Deep: Fracking Litigation Trends." Insurance News and Analysis for Risk Managers, Agents,
Brokers, P&C Insurance Pros. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 July 2012.
<http://www.propertycasualty360.com/2012/01/27/digging-deep-fracking-litigation-trends>.
• "Electric Tree House." Fracking. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 July 2012. <http://electrictreehouse.com/tag/fracking/>.
• "New Report: Fracking Could Cause a New Global Water Crisis." Food & Water Watch. N.p., n.d. Web. 27
July 2012. <http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/pressreleases/new-report-fracking-could-cause-a-new-
global-water-crisis/>.
• "Digging Deep: Fracking Litigation Trends." Insurance News and Analysis for Risk Managers, Agents,
Brokers, P&C Insurance Pros. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 July 2012.
<http://www.propertycasualty360.com/2012/01/27/digging-deep-fracking-litigation-trends>.
