What are the risks?

In 2013, an estimated 250 billion

cubic meters of natural gas will be brought to the surface by fracking in the
US. ( Brooks, 2013)
If fracking was just a new-fangled way of tapping natural gas sources, it would be
welcomed by most people as a cheaper, cleaner alternative to oil and coal. The
problems lie in the method of extraction.In order to get the gas out, a witchs
brew of toxic chemicals has to be pumped into the shale at high pressure. More
specifically, this is a mixture of water, sand, lubricants, poisons to keep bacteria
and other microorganisms from clogging the pipes, and hydrochloric acid to
dissolve the excess cement in the pipes (Brooks, 2013). If these fluids stayed far
underground, they might not damage the human environment. The problem is
that they find their way back to the surface through accidents at well heads, well
blowouts, backflow of fluids to the surface, and leaks throughout the system.
Altogether, more than 650 products containing chemicals with potential cancer-
causing properties have been used in fracking (Balaba and Smart, 2012).
One would think that a country such as the US would have laws to protect the
environment from toxic pollutants like these, but unfortunately the current laws
are full of loopholes when it comes to fracking. For instance, an exception to the
Safe Drinking Water Act is made for toxic chemicals injected into wells during
hydraulic fracturing. An exception to the Clean Water Act permits temporarily
stored waste water from fracking facilities to go untreated.
Other exemptions to US environmental safety regulations mean that fracking well
operators are not obliged to report annual releases of toxic chemicals from their
wells (Centner, 2013).Finally, the government does not require well operators to
disclose the chemical contents of the fluids they use in the fracking process.
These are considered trade secrets. It seems ironic that these companies do not
have to disclose the contents of their fracking chemicals, when the
manufacturers of household cleaning products must disclose every detail of their
contents (Lauver, 2012).
Fracking wells
have been developed across the country, with highest density in Texas,
Wyoming, California and Pennsylvania. (Source: US Environmental
Protection Agency, 2012)
The Obama administration is proposing a new set of fracking rules, and
their initial proposal has received an enormous number of comments from
the public (more than 175,000 responses). The new set of rules only cover
fracking on public lands, but the administration hopes that these rules will
be adopted by individual states for use on private lands as well.

The rules set standards of well integrity and management of polluted water that
flows back to the surface. Groundwater pollution is another serious concern, but
results of an EPA study on that threat are not expected before 2016. In the
meantime, thousands of new fracking wells are springing up all over the country.