I was having lunch with one of my pals the other day, when he started telling me about a fracking accident in West Virginia that one of his family members was involved in some years ago. This was the first time I ever heard of it, and its issues presented in the environment. I immediately decided that this was something I was going to write about, and jumped straight to deeper research.
Fracking, as wonderfully described by an environmental website dedicated to fracking called Dangers of Fracking, “is the process of drilling and injecting fluid into the ground at a high pressure in order to fracture shale rocks to release natural gas inside.” This website is a highly interactive and fun website that takes about five minutes to visually describe the process of fracking, as well as the dangers.
Fracking is extremely dangerous due to the toxic chemicals used in the drilling. As much as 50%-70% of non-biodegradable fracking fluid is left in the ground, which can contaminate the groundwater. This is extremely problematic, especially for those people as well as animals who live near these fracking sites. Earth Justice provides a map that shows where fracking accidents have occurred, as well as where the sites and proposed sites are/will be located.
Those who live near fracking sites, are subjected to contaminated drinking water that cause a variety of health problems. According to the Dangers of Fracking website, “there have been over 1,000 documented cases of water contamination next to areas of gas drilling as well as cases of sensory, respiratory, and neurological damage due to ingested contaminated water.” This is infuriating, as a lot of people aren’t aware of the dangers since fracking companies don’t legally have to say what toxic chemicals are being used in their process.
Not only are WE affected by this injustice, but animal life as well since they have to drink from poisoned water, and fish have to swim in it. Also, an average of seventy-two trillion gallons of water are used in the US for all the fracking sites. This takes water away from fish and other wildlife. Needless to say… Fracking freaking sucks!
Green Planet 
Fracking has always been going on, but recently it has been happening a lot more and has received a ton of media attention. I remember reading and learning about fracking when I was in middle school but I never thought it would actually have to do with me. When people drill down as means to actually break shale rock in order to retrieve natural gas, I really am not surprised. We are a nation heavily dependent on the use of natural gases and fossil fuels, and when it comes to truly harming the earth for human gain, I am absolutely not surprised. We have been recently independent in our natural gas consumption and have not had to go out to third world countries for our oil which has not only saved money, but has seemingly made the US more of a super power. Without relying on other countries, we become a self-sufficient work force. But at what cost? Fracking, like you said, is so harmful to our environment. Drilling as means to actually break through a part of our nations shale rock to release natural gases is so harmful not only to the earth, but to everyone surrounded by it. Though workers on fracking sites are professionals, there will always be mistakes and things that do not go right. If you puncture the wrong place, you could hit an underwater spring, completely contaminating our purest water source. Natural gas will enter people’s water supplies and who knows what the true effects of natural gas contaminated water are. I do not agree with fracking, and truly think there are better ways for this to be done.
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