An Environmentally Hazardous Process: Why the United States Should Follow France's Lead and Ban Hydraulic Fracturing

Abstract

The process known today as hydraulic fracturing ("fracking," "hydrofracing," or "fracing") began as early as the 1940s.' Essentially, the fracking process was developed as a way for gas and oil companies to "extract hydrocarbons from 'low-permeability reservoirs,' or natural underground gas chambers that require massive amounts of hydraulic stimulation to recover cost-effective amount[s] of gas and/or oil."2 The process of fracking involves several steps. First, a deep well (up to 8,000 feet)3 is drilled into the earth at a location deemed by a company to have substantial amounts of oil or gas located in the shale of the underlying crust.4 Second, a combination of millions of gallons of water, sand,5 and highly pressurized fluids and solvents are injected into the well where the fracturing site is located. There, the chemicals and fluids are discharged at great speeds towards a subterranean reservoir.7 The fluid combination is injected against the underground well until at least one fracture appears in the surface of the earth or an existing fracture widens.8 After the fractures are created or widened, sand is injected into the seams of the fracture to ensure that the cracks remain open during the extraction process.9 This