Jasmine Lee / Van Nuys High School 11th Grade

Hydraulic fracking has been an ongoing contentious issue in the United States. Whether it be for hydraulic fracking or any other energy producing technique, the balance between the need to find energy and the importance of protecting the environment has always been tentative. In this case, hydraulic fracking, the process by which millions of gallons of water, sand, and chemicals are pumped into the ground to break apart rock to release natural gas, has been especially controversial because of its potential as a huge asset to the American economy.

The contaminated groundwater found in Pennsylvania brought about a deluge of complaints and protests from environmentalists.

Pennsylvania’s groundwater had been contaminated to the extent that the water itself could be set on fire due to the large amounts of chemicals in the water. This incident attracted nationwide attention to hydraulic fracking. Environmentalists expressed their concerns that the effects of hydraulic fracking was not thoroughly researched enough, and pressed for a ban on the practice until further research was to be done.

In response to the accusations made by environmentalists, gas industrialists that were pressed forward with hydraulic fracking argued that it was more environmentally friendly than some of the previous energy extracting methods, including coal mining. Since the incident in Pennsylvania, legislative action has been taken by environmentalists to ban hydraulic fracking, or at least increase regulation of the process.

California governor Jerry Brown recently signed an outlined series of regulations on hydraulic fracking that is to be implemented starting on January 1. Included in the series of regulations were mandated notices for land owners thirty days prior to drilling, test checks on groundwater, disclosure of chemicals, etc. In states such as Vermont, environmentalists have successfully been able to ban the practice of hydraulic fracking altogether. Hydraulic fracking has been shown to have numerous benefits and disadvantages. With the newly implemented regulations and tighter restrictions in the coming year, changes in the way hydraulic fracking is administered are sure to have different results yet to be seen.