Fracking 101

Jun. 10, 2024

Fracking 101

The process begins with the drilling of a long vertical or angled well that can extend a mile or more into the earth. As the well nears the rock formation where the natural gas or oil lies, drilling then gradually turns horizontal and extends as far as thousands of feet. Steel pipes called casings are inserted into the well, and the space between the rock and the casing is fully or partially filled with cement. Small holes are made in the casing with a perforating gun, or the well is constructed with pre-perforated pipe. Fracking fluid is then pumped in at a pressure high enough to create new fractures or open existing ones in the surrounding rock. This allows the oil or gas to flow to the surface for gathering, processing, and transportation, along with contaminated wastewater that is stored in pits and tanks or disposed of in underground wells.

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Fracking equipment

Hydraulic fracturing requires an extensive amount of equipment, such as high-pressure, high-volume fracking pumps; blenders for fracking fluids; and storage tanks for water, sand, chemicals, and wastewater. This infrastructure, plus more, typically arrives at drill sites via heavy trucks.

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What is in fracking fluid?

Made up of as much as 97 percent water, fracking fluid also contains chemical additives and proppants (small, solid particles used to keep the fractures in the rock formation open after the pressure from injection subsides). While most states with oil and gas production now have rules requiring disclosure of chemicals used in fracking, those rules often contain exclusions for &#;confidential business information&#; (CBI), which can be used to shield the identities of chemicals that are considered trade secrets. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) examined more than 39,000 chemical disclosure forms submitted to FracFocus from January 1, , to February 28, ; it found that more than 70 percent of the forms listed at least one chemical as CBI and that 11 percent of all chemicals were claimed as such.

Chemicals used in fracking
Different chemicals are added for different purposes, based on the rock type and other specifics of a fracking site. Acids, for example, are used to dissolve minerals to help fossil fuels flow more easily; biocides eliminate bacteria; gelling agents help carry proppants into fractures; and corrosion inhibitors prevent steel parts of the well from being damaged by fracking fluid. The EPA identified 1,084 different chemicals reported as used in fracking formulas between and . Common ingredients include methanol, ethylene glycol, and propargyl alcohol. Those chemicals, along with many others used in fracking fluid, are considered hazardous to human health. Meanwhile, and perhaps more disconcertingly, the potential human health impacts of the majority of chemicals used in fracking formulas are simply unknown. For instance, scientists in California found that complete information about hazards and risks to humans and the environment is available for only about one-third of the chemicals used for fracking and other, similar operations in the state.

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