Gasland & Hydraulic Fracturing or Fracking

As countries around the world begin to explore alternative energy sources than petroleum, natural gas is of growing interest. I must admit I knew virtually nothing about how natural gas comes to be in tanks and canisters. I knew that companies are conducting exploration drilling in the Canadian Arctic to explore natural gas reserves. While mineral and energy extraction in the Arctic is an important issue unto itself, the main focus of my current interest is natural gas extraction in the United States and the implications of this for the rest of the world. This brings me to the documentary by Josh Fox called Gasland. This Oscar nominated documentary discusses the hazards of fracking in the United States and the politics behind this booming industry. The main focus of this film was water and the impact the fracking process and natural gas extraction has on the water supply. If you have read Bottlemania, or if you are interested in issues surrounding safe drinking water, you would probably enjoy this film.

Trailer to Gasland

What is fracking?
Fracking is a method used in deep well natural gas extraction. A combination of over 596 chemicals (80-300 tonnes each time), sand, and 1-8 millions of gallons of water is pumped into a well to break up the shale and ease the extraction of the natural gas. The water used becomes contaminated and of the water that is pumped out of the well, all of it is contaminated and must be cleaned and disposed of. During the lifetime of a natural gas well, it can be fracked multiple times (up to or beyond 10 times). These gas wells are drilled to 8000ft and most water aquifers are around 1000ft below the ground. The big concern is when the well casings leak or when water supplies are contaminated. This brief explanation is very over-simplified and there are great resources available on YouTube if you want to learn more about it.

What frightened me about this whole process beyond the safety issues of the wells and the potential for explosions was how the companies doing the drilling are not required by law to declare what chemicals they use for this process. Natural gas drilling companies are exempt from the Safe Drinking Water Act (1974), which is in place to ensure that drinking water is kept clean from contamination. This exemption is commonly referred to as the Halliburton Loophole which was part of the Energy Bill passed in 2005 by the Bush administration. The Safe Drinking Water Act is in place to ensure that water resources are protected and not destroyed by industry or natural processes. While in some cases, citizens have been able to sue the gas companies and have them provide alternate water supplies (the gas companies will build a large tank and fill it up with water trucked in from elsewhere), however countless other families are left to fend for themselves.

Global Implications
How does this problem in the United States relate to international development? While current attention is focused on the fallout from fracking in the United States, other countries (including Europe and Northern Africa) are exploring fracking as a means to access natural gas reserves. If the United States is the model on which other natural gas drilling enterprises are mimicking, there is the potential for some serious problems. Clearly, there are health and safety issues surrounding natural gas extraction that have yet to be addressed and those with a vested interest in the operation of these drill sites are unwilling to take a critical look at the operation of these facilities. Hopefully before this technology is used in other parts of the world there will at least be independent study of some of these issues. Am I opposed to natural gas extraction? No. If natural gas companies were held to environmental standards and were able to prevent much of the water contamination that is currently happening, I don't see a problem in making use of this natural resource. However, while citizens of the United States can continue to set their water on fire, natural gas drilling is cause for concern.

Another great YouTube clip about Gasland

For more information about Josh Fox or Gasland please visit
website: http://www.gaslandthemovie.com
Facebook information: http://www.facebook.com/gaslandmovie