Drilling for natural gas in itself doesn't pose a threat to air and water quality, if it‘s done properly.

Dr. Charles Groat [1], University of Texas

Safeguarding the Community

Hydraulic fracturing technology has a strong environmental track record and is employed under close supervision by state, local and federal regulators.While all development has challenges, hydraulic fracturing does not introduce new or unique environmental risks to exploration and production operations, but concerns have been raised due to the potential scale of operations where this technology is applied. Many of these concerns are genuine and the oil and natural gas industry recognizes that there needs to be a bigger conversation about the development process and the steps being taken to ensure safe operations. 

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Water Use [2]

Fracking requires 2 to 4 million gallons of water. Drilling companies work with local water planning agencies to ensure local water needs are not disrupted, and often recycle water for use in other wells.

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[3]

Groundwater Protection [3]

Research shows that properly designed and constructed oil and natural gas wells present low environmental risk to our groundwater.

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[4]

Wastewater Management [4]

Fracking requires large amounts of water, which afterward is recycled to drill other wells, delivered to water treatment facilities, or injected into special disposal wells.

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[5]

Air Emissions [5]

With proper safeguards in place, fracking poses low risk to air quality from the running of engines and compressors to develop and operate natural oil and gas wells.

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[6]

Site Construction Impacts [6]

Oil and natural gas development companies work with local communities to reduce noise, traffic and other environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing.

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[7]

Fracking and Earthquakes [7]

The hydraulic fracturing process can cause very slight seismic activity; usually 10,000 to 1M times lower than a magnitude 3.0 earthquake.

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