Environmental Considerations Associated with Hydraulic Fracturing Operations
by James A. Jacobs, Stephen M. Testa
16Conclusions
Like mining, major construction or infrastructure development projects, horizontal drilling combined with hydraulic fracture stimulation operations, and oil and gas production are large‐scale industrial processes. When managed well, large‐scale industrial processes provide economic development, job opportunities, and new sources of cash flow for the landowners. When managed poorly without effective mitigation measures, large‐scale industrial processes have also been known to degrade the environment, lower availability and quality of water resources, negatively impact air quality, generate noise, odors, and dust, induce seismicity, and lower the overall quality of life for those living or working nearby. The energy revolution that has allowed for drilling and hydrocarbon production in areas that might contain dozens of contiguous counties has placed industrial processes squarely in the middle of agricultural, forested, or vacant lands. Some large urban and suburban areas overlie shale basins as well and will ultimately see unconventional oil and gas development, as seen in recent years encroaching on Broomfield, Colorado.
There are several points that can be made about this process:
- The first patent for artificial fracturing oil and gas reservoirs using torpedoes was issued in 1864, and in 1949, hydraulic fracturing was tested. Hydraulic fracturing is a stimulation process to enhance production, and by 1988, nearly one million oil and gas wells had undergone hydraulic ...