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Environmental Protection Agency illustration of the water cycle of hydraulic fracturing. Fracking in the United States began in 1949. [1] According to the Department of Energy (DOE), by 2013 at least two million oil and gas wells in the US had been hydraulically fractured, and that of new wells being drilled, up to 95% are hydraulically fractured.
Many oil and gas companies contend that the regulations currently in place are sufficient. The June 2015 draft report of an ongoing EPA study on fracking effects on drinking water listed a number of mechanisms by which fracking can degrade drinking water. The draft report noted among its major findings:
In May 2012, the state of Vermont became the first state to outlaw hydraulic fracturing; [115] New York, which unlike Vermont has significant gas reserves, banned the practice in December 2014. [116] Maryland introduced a temporary fracking ban in 2015, [ 117 ] which was made permanent in 2017.
Three years ago, after Newsom directed CalGEM to cease issuing fracking permits and set a 2024 deadline to legally end the practice, the state denied a string of at least 100 fracking permit ...
Critics said the method utilized a loophole from the high-volume hydraulic fracturing explicitly banned in New York — the regulations pertain to fracking that uses more than 300,000 gallons of ...
Opponents say the company is simply trying to use a different mix of chemicals to circumvent New York's ban on hydraulic fracturing, and they claim that using captured carbon instead of water ...
The main tool used by this approach is risk assessment. A risk assessment method, based on experimenting and assessing risk ex-post, once the technology is in place. In the context of hydraulic fracturing, it means that drilling permits are issued and exploitation conducted before the potential risks on the environment and human health are known.
Fracking has helped make the U.S. the world's top oil producer. But that economic benefit comes at an environmental cost.