In Colorado, studies have found that people living within a half mile of fracked wells were exposed to pollution levels five times above the federal hazard limit.
These harmful gasses have cause health effects in people and animals living near fracked wells. In New Mexico, there are up to 30 wells per square mile.įracked wells leak volatile organic compounds (VOCs) like methane into the atmosphere. The oil and gas industry drilled and fracked approximately 35,000 wells in 2011.These wells can be as close as 600 feet to each other. The contaminated water used in fracking can also leak or spill, polluting underground aquifers and other waterways.Water contaminated by fracking has spilled into waterways, been dumped into streamsand rivers, and leaked underground contaminating underground aquifers.Īn example of fracked water in Pennsylvania. Frackings thirst is so great that it has literally sucked towns in Texas dry. Each well can be fracked multiple times, meaning each fracking well can purposefully contaminate hundreds of millions of gallons of fresh water as part of normal operations. In order to frack, two to ten million gallons of water are laced with cancer causing chemicals and injected deep underground. Fracking uses and contaminates a huge amount of water Here is everything you need to know about fracking from its impact on climate change to an increase in earthquakes. With a recent study documenting public health impacts from fracking in Pennsylvaniaand revelations about fracking’s impact on our national parks, the topic is certainly bubbling into a national conversation.