Schnorr 1

Alex Schnorr
Mrs. Schneider
AP English, Period 8
October 20, 2012
Fracking Persuasive Speech
If you were looking for a way to poison the drinking water supply here you couldnt
find a more chillingly effective, and thorough method of doing so than with hydraulic
fracturing. states Paul Hetzler in the Watertown Daily News. ---Shocking wordshowever,
what in the world is hydraulic fracturing, and why is this topic so controversial? Well, it may
sound complex, but in contrast hydraulic fracturing is really quite a simple process. Commonly
referred to as fracking, this practice of gas drilling is used in the present natural gas industry to
retrieve more oil than would normally be possible. Essentially you shoot millions of gallons of
water mixed with sand and toxic chemicals--down a drilled hole to lose additional gas, which is
then extracted. Whats bad about this? --Well, it would be like if you dumped toxic water in a
hole and left most of it there, probably not the best ideawhich brings us to the controversy of
this subject. Gas companies are just recently beginning very large scale fracking activity,
especially in the U.S. There is a much, much larger profit in this process gas corporations are
taking advantage of it, and in addition fracking can potentially supply 100 more years of
available natural gas for our society. Our society is extremely dependent on natural gas and all
fossil fuels as you know. Buses, cars, trucks, boats, industrial machines, generators, the list is
endless. The U.S. is currently completely and totally reliant on this fuel source and without it our
nation would be very different. So thats definitely a good thing and clearly fracking has some
extraordinary benefits, a constant gas supply is paramount, however, are these benefits worth

Schnorr 2
some of the consequences? Major consequences which are usually overlooked? After closer
inspection fracking is a very dangerous process, and should be completely stopped or limited if
gas corporations cannot figure out a better way to frack.

Now fracking presents a variety of problems. First and foremost, this process is obviously
going to require quite a bit of water. In fact, according to In These Times and The Institute for
Public Affairs, a single fracking well requires 3 to 9 million gallons of water every week. Thats
one wellAs of 2008 fracking accounted slightly less than 0.8% of annual water use. This is not
a huge concern, but this heavy water use is not great for the environment and has the possibility
of creating drought issues if over used.
Besides the issue of water waste, there is also the issue of whats actually in that water.
Corporations use numerous chemicals in the fracking process (list some?) In fact the US House
of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce reports, Between 2005 and 2009, the
oil and gas companies used 2,500 fracturing products containing 750 chemicals, many of which
are either human carcinogens, regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act for their risks to
human health, listed as hazardous air pollutants under the Clean Air Act, or havent even been
identified. These corporations are not required to disclose the chemicals they are using, and
have even publicly refused to do so when asked. Overall, these companies used 780 million
gallons of these hydraulic fracturing products not including water. It should be pretty clear that
all these chemicals will lead to some problems.
Fracking, in fact, has been linked to numerous environmental problems. Sarah Francisco,
a senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center remarks, "It [fraking] has a large
footprint and it can have significant impacts on the forest, wildlife habitat and water quality,"

Schnorr 3
In fact, in April of 2009, 17 cattle died an hour after drinking frack water that had somehow
spread into their pasture as reported by In These Times. The environmental impact of fracking
includes: draining of local water reserves to supply the water required for fracking, the heavy use
and destruction of local roads by fracking trucks, the noise pollution of pumps and fracking
equipment operating non-stop for months at a time and clearing of forest land as every drilling
pad takes 5 acres of land. Furthermore, the Marcellus Shale rock layer is radioactive and it is
very probable that of radioactive elements will be released into the air from the fracking process.
How are cooperations allowed to do this? The New York Times observes, The natural gas
industry has exemptions or exclusions from key parts of at least 7 of the 15 major federal
environmental laws designed to protect air and water from radioactive and hazardous
chemicals. This shouldnt be allowed to happen, and these are only a few of the environmental
issues with fracking, thats definitely not a good thing.

So, if this process is obviously bad for the environment, just think about how it affects
people. Fracking contamination has been reported to cause cancer, neurological symptoms, and
countless other illnesses. Here are a few reports from The Natural Resources Defense Council
and EPA Office of Research and Development that offer the same conclusion:

"In June 2010, tests by the Texas Railroad Commission showed arsenic, barium, chromium, lead
and selenium in a residential water well in Dish. The tainted water turned up at a home in Dish
shortly after a nearby gas well was drilled.

West Virginia: The Hagy family in Jackson County, West Virginia, is suing four oil and gas
companies for contaminating their drinking water. They say their water had "a peculiar smell and

Schnorr 4
taste" and the parents as well as their two children are suffering from neurological symptoms
(Mall).
Texas: Grace Mitchell, a resident of Johnson County, Texas, is suing Encana and Chesapeake.
According to her lawsuit, soon after drilling and hydraulic fracturing took place near her home in
2010, her water became contaminated, feeling slick to the touch and giving off an oily, gasolinelike odor. Testing results performed on her well water confirmed it was contaminated with
various chemicals, including C-12-C28 hydrocarbons, similar to diesel fuel (Mall)
Colorado: In 2007, the Bounds family in Huerfano County reported a pump house exploded
and contamination of drinking water during hydraulic fracturing of nearby wells owned by
Petroglyph Energy (Mall).
Pennsylvania: In 2009, the Zimmerman family of Washington County reported contamination of
drinking water after hydraulic fracturing of nearby natural gas wells owned by Atlas
Energy. Water testing on their farm found arsenic at 2,600 times acceptable levels, benzene at 44
times above limits, naphthalene at five times the federal standard, and mercury and selenium
levels above official limits (Mall).
There are reports after reports after reports of incidents such as these. I hope it is quite obvious
now how this can affect you individually, and the potential danger fracking presents to people.
Again, while hydraulic fracturing has some huge benefits, there are the consequences: the
extremely heavy water use, toxic chemicals, environmental destruction, and devastation of towns
and people near the fracking sites. Its only logical to attempt to slow and or stop the gas
corporations from future harmful fracking procedures and proceed with more caution. People
have the power to stop these companies. The EPA reports that in 2010 Pennsylvania completely

Schnorr 5
prohibited Cabot Oil and Gas Corp. from future drilling in the state after a contamination issue.
This just goes to show how important it is that we be aware of what is happening around us and
take action if something is not right. Be aware of fracking if you happen to come across it in the
future, and consider where the natural gas is coming you are using.

Works Cited

Arthur, J. Daniel; Uretsky, Mike; Wilson, Preston (May 56, 2010). "Water Resources and Use
for Hydraulic Fracturing in the Marcellus Shale Region" (PDF). Meeting of the American
Institute of Professional Geologists. Pittsburgh: ALL Consulting. p. 3. Retrieved 201205-09.
"Energy & Commerce Committee." Energy & Commerce Committee. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct.
2012. <http://energycommerce.house.gov/>.
ExxonMobil. "Light Seeking Light." : An Argument for Fracking. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2012.
<http://lightseekinglight.blogspot.com/2011/08/argument-for-fracking.html>.
Howells, Polly. "Dont Frack with Our Water!" In These Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2012.
<http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/4909/dont_frack_with_our_water/>.
"Hydraulic Fracturing Issues and Problems." Hydraulic Fracturing Issues and Problems. Marc
W. McCord., n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2012. <http://fracdallas.org/docs/issues.html>.
Mall, Amy. "Incidents Where Hydraulic Fracturing Is a Suspected Cause of Drinking Water
Contamination." Home. Natural Resources Defense Council, 19 Dec. 2011. Web. 14 Oct.
2012. <http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/amall/incidents_where_hydraulic_frac.html>.
Schultz, Aarik. Hydraulic Fracturing and Natural Gas Drilling: Questions and Concerns. New
York: Nova Science, 2012. Print.
Tracy, Tennille. "New EPA Findings Test Fracking Site." The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones &
Company, Inc., 10 Oct. 2012. Web. 13 Oct. 2012.
<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443294904578049210534771442.html
>.

Schnorr 6
Wilber, Tom. Under the Surface: Fracking, Fortunes and the Fate of the Marcellus Shale.
Ithaca: Cornell UP, 2012. Print.