What are the claims of anti-fracking activists?

According to the Associated Press, claims regarding natural gas drilling and the effect it has on health and air quality are based on inaccurate and misleading science. Researchers confirm that the claims relating fracking to breast cancer rates are “just plain false.”

Fracking is slang for hydraulic fracturing, with is the extraction on natural gas from shale rock formations. The extraction process have been controversial over the years. The process of extracting natural gas requires a mixture of water (99%), sand and chemicals (1%). The mix is pumped thousands of feet beneath the ground to fracture the shale rock formations, which releases the natural gas into the wells. The fractured rock is held open by the sand.

Anti-fracking activists have used misleading health claims in the fracking controversy. “They said drilling that began 10 years ago in north Texas’s Barnett Shale led to a jump in breast cancer rates.” However, medical researches confirm no such spikes have occurred.

Researchers also found other fracking allegations unconvincing, such as, contaminated drinking water and harmful to air quality.

Fracking was once controlled by the state. Now, fracking is controlled both by state and federal governments. The EPA stepped in to run a few tests on the water sources in fracking neighbors. The Obama Administration is imposing fracking regulations this year. Obama promises to prevent chemicals from seeping into groundwater. He will also contain greenhouse gas emissions from drilling sites.

Fracking activists believe that fracking regulations could slow down drilling activity, which puts the U.S. further away from energy independence. They people believe the regulations are “propelled by emotional cries and shaky scientific evidence.”

Source: The Hill