The Truth About Fracking

by Sam Macuga, 6th grade
Ecker Hill Middle, Mrs. DeKoff's writing class.

Fracking is the process of drilling down and creating tiny explosions to shatter and crack hard shale rocks to release the gas inside, according to BBC. Fracking is causing problems worldwide, such as hastening global warming, polluting groundwater, and putting animals to the point of extinction. This may make one wonder, why we would put our precious planet at such a risk for oil and natural gas? Why would we release cancer-causing toxins into the soil that kids, adults, and everyone else on our planet has to fight? The answer is oil companies believe we need more oil than we already have and that the only answer is forcing pollutants to cause explosions in the ground. All they think of is helping humans, not the planet and all the incredible creatures we share our home with.

There are two sides to every argument. Fracking may create extra jobs for the unemployed. In addition, oil is in high demand in the U.S. Oil is needed as means of fuel, plastic, and electricity. In 2000, we were running low on oil and only one percent came from shale. Now, a surprising twenty-five percent of oil comes from shale and we aren’t running low. Some sources say no research has been done that proved negative effects come from fracking, but we aren’t sure.

Although the above may be true, hydraulic fracturing, more commonly known as fracking, uses diluted water that is propelled into the ground, containing roughly 600 chemicals, including the infamous formaldehyde, known to cause lethal cancer. The poison is injected into the ground and, after the process, only an approximate thirty to fifty percent of the concoction is recovered. As an illustration, the extra percentage of those contaminants seep into the surrounding water, fill the air with greenhouse gases worse than carbon dioxide, and kill animals and plants that ingest it.

To support, notice how the name of this harmful process includes hydraulic, this means it uses water. Each time we frack, depending on the size of the well, one-to-eight million gallons of water is used. On the same token, only thirty to fifty percent is recovered. That’s approximately four million gallons of water lost, in some frackings. This process amounts to 72 trillion gallons of water, wasted to gain oil. The poisoned water flows and penetrates through the ground, eventually, in most cases, reaching a water source. Consequentially, this could contaminate an available drinking source that cities, with populations in the thousands, drink from every day. Many argue that we can use water filters, but it has been proven that not all chemicals, toxins, and pollutants can be removed. Fracking is putting pollutants into the water that thousands, maybe millions, drink from. Whole communities of animals suffer from poisoned springs, ponds, and other water sources.

Furthermore, global warming is becoming a bigger problem every day. One of the 600 toxins put into the mixture used, is methane. Methane is a gas and when released into the air, can cause more damage than carbon dioxide. In hydraulic fracturing, methane is lost after it is used to get oil, contributing to the immense situation. Global warming is creating a chain reaction of dangers, from causing extinction, to destroying continents. If we continue to use fracking, we put the already endangered and dying penguins at a greater risk. Global warming has reached the point where some parts of Antarctica are increasing in temperature five times faster than the rest of the world. In addition, the polar bears are being starved to death, unable to reach hunting grounds. With the ice melting at such a great speed, they become stranded on floating chunks of ice, never to return home.

Fracking may be a solution to the problem of a shortage of oil, but there are always more solutions to be found. This process of blasting oil from the earth is contaminating everything, the land, air, water, wildlife, and communities. Risking our lives, the beautiful planet we call home, and the creatures that help to sustain us, is not worth some oil that could be obtained in a more eco-friendly way. Pumping toxins into the ground that can cause cancer and destroy entire families of animals, just for natural gas? We can’t take earth, it’s creatures, and resources for granted, we have to conserve them and make sure they don’t die. We can’t be selfish and only think of what we need. We need to sustain and help the other creatures we share our beautiful planet with. Fracking must be stopped.

Deborah DeKoff teaches the 6th grade Language Arts class at Ecker Hill Middle School, Park City, UT. She is working with EarthWell to provide recognition and exposure for the writings of her students and to help encourage their awareness and involvement with topics that concern their future and the future of their planet.