Hydraulic Fracturing and Environmental Impact

This assignment delves into the multifaceted implications of hydraulic fracturing (fracking). It examines the environmental consequences, including water contamination and greenhouse gas emissions, alongside economic benefits and challenges. Students are tasked with analyzing real-world case studies to evaluate the effectiveness of current fracking regulations and propose sustainable solutions to mitigate its negative impacts.

HYDRAULIC FRACTURING IN THE NT (NORTHERN TERRITORY DARWIN CITY,
AUSTRALIA
Student’s Name
Class
Tutor’s Name
Institution’s Name
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Contents
HYDRAULIC FRACTURING IN THE NT (NORTHERN TERRITORY DARWIN CITY,
AUSTRALIA........................................................................................................................................0
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................1
Fracking in the NT..................................................................................................................................3
Hydraulic Fracturing Potential...............................................................................................................4
Hydraulic Fracturing and the Environment............................................................................................5
The Hydraulic Fracturing Impacts from The Shale Gas extraction.........................................................5
Conclusion...........................................................................................................................................10
References...........................................................................................................................................12
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Introduction
The process of fracturing which is another name of hydraulic fracturing is applicable in the
drill holes after their completion in natural gas wells. The process involves using material and
fluids for the creation and/or restoring of fractures in an attempt to form a stimulation in the
production from new and/or existing oil and gas wells. The application of this procedure
allows one to be able to access trapped natural gas. The natural gas involved is one that has
not been extracted before by the use of extraction by traditional methods. The main topic of
concern is that the process is the injection of chemicals together with the use of water into the
drilled wells. In this method, there has been a controversy due to the worries in the injection
of chemicals into the ground. The chemicals that are applied in hydraulic fracturing are
deemed to be harmful. They could be harmful in underground or during theory handling on
the surface during injection or transportation. These chemicals pose threat to soil, water, and
air since they are environmentally hazardous. This report avoids detailed structuring in the
process and steps of this practice, however, an understanding of the mechanism involved in
the fracking process could be of assistance when explaining the threats and hazards fracturing
affects the environment. Not only does it affect the environment but the human health too.
The report, therefore, investigates the potential in the usage of hydraulic fracturing during
extraction of hydrocarbon deposits in the onshore resources in the NT of Australia. The
report goes on to investigate impacts that hydraulic fracturing has on the farming operations
that exist, the quality of ground water together with other activities being conducted in the
NT. Usually, any mining source raises the debating energy against food. Hydraulic fracturing
is also not left out since it is a similar practice. In the fracas, anyone involved is deemed to
side with any notion that seems important to the involved individual of the present age and
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day. No secret is there when the hydraulic fracturing process is begun as the mining has a
number of risk and damage factors that affect the environment. The mining process is
researched on and has been proved to have an extensive damage that is large and devastating
to the environment and its living occupants. These same implications can be felt in the
Northern Territory too. The people who are most likely to oppose fracking process are those
who live in the surrounding region. These inhabitants see the mining process as an act that
will directly have an effect on their lives in a negative way. Research shows that most people
are attached to their land and are driven by their emotions to protect it. It is an influence from
the customs and traditions of the people. Hence the opposition to the fracking process in the
NT. The views of such people should never be neglected since, in the conduction of the
practice, the communities in the neighboring environment have to be considered before
initiating the process. However, it should be important to draw from the numerous impacts
and issues that come with the practice in the UK and the USA experiences. This is so because
the fracking process is not a brand new procedure hence effects can be considered before its
application in the NT of Australia. These two countries have largely applied the process and
can be put as examples in instigating the hydraulic fracturing process (Kukutai & Taylor,
2016).
Fracking in the NT
An exploration of the fracking potential process is in the extraction of the onshore deposits
containing hydrocarbon resources in the NT region of Australia. An analysis of the general
views from the public in the matter regarding the procedure can be done. The analysis is
majorly conducted by the government of the NT area and below are a number of the fact
points regarding the progress of the fracturing procedure (Altman & Kerins, 2012).
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The onshore trapped gas being mined in the NT area of the shore is majorly shale gas. The
shale gas is trapped in between the shale rock thereby the application of hydraulic fracturing
is required. This comes after the recognition of about 90% coverage in the NT area by the
currently undergoing approval or continuing application for exploration and the production of
onshore gas and oil (Speight, 2016).
The chairman of the Imperial Oil and Gas has produced reports indicating that there was a
legal binding contract that was about the drilling of wells in the Northern Territory region and
in case the procedure did not happen, the failure in delivery would leave the project in
uncharted waters (Morrison, 2012).
Taking from the recent regulations together with the NT assurances from the government, the
company is said to have spent $7 million in the identification and securing of oil and gas
sections in the NT region. In addition, various pilot projects have started and there has been a
planning of executing the larger-scale process of extracting the shale gas (Speight, 2013).
Hydraulic Fracturing Potential
There has been an intense debating over the fracking process that has reignited the promise
from the Labour party in the NT region before the August election. The promise was the
banning of the fracking process for a given duration of office was voted in. in the present day,
the election has concluded and the new government is in place for the new Labour. The
newly elected party has promised to ban the fracking process for a duration of time, similar to
the case scenario in Tasmania (Ma & Holditch, 2015). The Tasmanian government has
passed a ban for a duration of about 5 years in which there should be no hydraulic fracturing
mining. It is, therefore, a conclusion that the newly voted government of the NT area will not
ban the fracking process completely but will issue a ban for a duration of the period. A
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combination of all these ideas give an assertion that the fracking process is an issue becoming
a political, hence its future tendency to be employed will be influenced and decided by the
political leaders of the region (Donaldson, et al., 2014). However, it is ideally reasonable to
say that the new government will shut the fracking process down for a number of years to
come. At least the not indefinitely (Speight, 2013).
Hydraulic fracturing process in the Northern Territory had amassed hate from the occupying
societies. The hate can be assured of the latest polling results that were conducted in the last
August of 2016 that noted the election of the new labor party that promised to issue a ban on
the mining procedure under discussion. Hence, it is right to say that a large percentage of the
NT inhabitants oppose hydraulic fracturing. However, there is a question about the reason for
the large opposition to the fracking mining in the NT area (Holloway & Rudd, 2013).
Later in this written report, there is a list of the impacts of the fracking process in the
Northern Territory. These impacts point out the large and extensive damage that the fracking
procedure has incurred onto the inhabitants of the NT. Effects on the NT’s sedimentary
basins, ecosystem, and water resources together with the landscapes are discussed later on in
this report (Holloway, et al., 2012).
Hydraulic Fracturing and the Environment
In the Hawke Report, there are environmental impacts that have been found to be potentially
resulting from numerous shale gas in the fracking processes. This is the main target of the
fracking process about the present hydrocarbons existing in the Northern Territory (Yew,
1997). Suggestions have been put on notice concerning the management of risks using strict
regulations. In contrary, there has not been any clarity in the proposed strict regulations
and/or any assurance the fracking practice can be made safe to the environment in spite of the
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risks it has from the first step to its last in the operational phases. Taking a note that it has
been more than a year since the release of the report, there has been insufficient regulation in
the NT area that could ensure the best practice regarding the hydraulic fracturing process
(Spellman, 2012).
The Hydraulic Fracturing Impacts from The Shale Gas extraction.
Impacts on the NT region’s Water
Hydraulic fracturing either directly or indirectly affects the availability and quality of water.
Water is the main resource in the steps involved thereby making the operation to be viewed
as one major water-insensitive operation. An estimation of 11-3 million water liters is
required to process one fracking of shale gas. These volumes are close to about 360 – 1100
truckloads. Wells involved in the mining are usually fracked many times. They can be
fracked to about ten times thereby multiplying the total amount of water in use
(Cheremisinoff & Davletshin, 2015). When this volume of water usage is kept up, it dwindles
the amount of underground sources of water present in the NT (Spellman & Bieber, 2009).
Underground sources of water are depended upon by the communities living around the
region. The water sources are already facing dangers from factor such as climate change, the
El Nino among others and an inclusion of fracturing process further threaten the water
availability (Berry & Montgomery, 2015).
Effects on Groundwater
As discussed before, a large amount of water usage in the fracking process has an impact on
the ground water (Thomas, 2011). Massive contamination of ground water is the major
contribution that fracking has. This is possible due to the uncontrolled gas and fluid flow that
come from the blowout or spills, fracturing fluid that leaks together with the uncontrolled
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discharge of waste water (Speight, 2016). Besides, when ground water is contaminated by
methane, mostly there leads to an explosion of nearby residential buildings. In case there is
potassium chloride leakage to the surrounding, drinking water of regions in the nearby gas
wells vicinity becomes salinized. Pure drinking water is notable in the NT jurisdiction
(Brandon & Thompsett, 2005). This is due to the existence of one of the best natural water
sources in the world. An existence of such feature is however threatened by ground water
contamination when the fracking operation paves the way to the NT region. Politicians in the
NT region make decisions on issues such as fracking. The decisions made have an impact on
the NT hence they are advised to be considerate and be wise since there are lives of human
beings that depend on the water for the existence of survival basic need (Thakur, et al., 2014).
Threats that may exist to water availability and quality need to be taken seriously with the
risks minimized other than clearing way environmentally damaging and unsustainable
practices that take place (Satter & Iqbal, 2015).
Chemicals Used
There are some chemicals that are used during the fracking process. In accordance to the
Northern Territory, hydraulic fracturing process pumping a concoction of water, sand, and
low chemical concentration into a drilled hole. It is however not direct which low
concentrated chemical will be applied in the NT. An estimation of over 1000 fracking
substances reported in the USA had a range of extremely deadly to non-toxic chemicals.
Furthermore, the procedure involves the use of large amounts of water which generally is a
mixture of chemicals. Chemicals used have been analyzed to have a long-term effect on the
neighboring environment and occupying human beings (Aminzadeh & Dasgupta, 2013).
Waste water
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The disposal of waste water that is a constitution of huge masses of toxic waste produced
from fracking operations often leads to the same waste water coming to the surface and
getting stored in dams. This waste is a mixture of drilling and fracking chemical concoction.
Contaminants present in the waste are heavy metals, volatile compounds of organic matter,
and radioactive materials together with salt concentrations. All these facts directly link
fracking to water contamination, such dangerous contamination threatens agricultural,
wildlife and human health. An additional issue is during the wet season, it becomes riskier to
monitor and contain the problem. Floods and monsoonal rains easily spread the waste all over
the NT (Donaldson, et al., 2014).
Farming Operation Consequences.
A percentage of 90% of land in the Northern Territory is either under approval for fracking
process or is already approved. Hence most of the land in this region is under threat of being
turned into a mining field. The operations, therefore, has a threat to land owners who are not
able to deny the gas company owners access to their land. This is so since most of the NT
land has mineral rights (Brandon & Thompsett, 2005). Owners are therefore legally obliged
to hand in title deeds for their land. Owners who occupy farming lands are most deemed to
suffer from the execution of fracking operations in large scale. Farmers would suffer from the
impacts felt from the effects of fracking procedures and the loss of land itself. There are
various ways that the waste water can damage water resources in both the surface and water
resources and affect the soil with rising levels of salt, waste water, and toxic chemicals. After
the soil has been affected, the safety and quality of the farming products also is influenced
and reduces gradually (Speight, 2016).
Additional executions in existing farming lands heavily affect farming. Farms are affected in
terms of the noise, traffic, land-take and visual impacts. Negative impacts to these related
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farms would only grow more with every increase and development of fracking wells. As like
any other practice is done in the mining industry, there will exist heavy machinery that will
be used during the fracking process of transportation and exploration. Therefore, there will be
heavy traffic like never before in the rural areas. Communities living in these places get direct
effects of the risks and hazards have on the existing local surrounding. The area of farming
lands also shrinks in the process to make these mining activities larger and develop. Large
drills, maneuvering areas and parking lots for the equipment, trucks, transport facilities and
gas processing for the access of the roads in the rural areas (Thomas, 2011).
Air Pollution
One more side effect of the hydraulic fracking process is the air pollution. A number of
sources that pollute the air is mainly gas. Gasses such as hydrogen sulfide, methane, carbon
(IV) oxide, sulfur (IV) oxide and nitrogen (ii) oxide pollute the air. More to it is the high
acidity that all these gasses have to the regional and local air quality together with the adverse
health and environmental effects. When air is polluted, various critical health consequences
come by since there is a range of toxic volatile compounds and gases in it. The societies that
neighbor these hydraulic fracking process companies are deemed to suffer the most. NT
communities are also likely to face exact scenarios like the communities that live close to Gas
fields in countries such as the USA (Holloway, et al., 2012). Reports have indicated that there
are serious health issues that follow the start of unconventional gas mining fields. Health
issues such as respiratory ailments, throat nose, and eye irritations together with other
neurological illnesses can be felt. This leaves no exceptional treatment to the inhabiting
animals and wildlife in the vicinity. Some experience gotten from the USA indicate that there
is a possibility of accidents happening. In case accidents occur, the impact will directly be felt
by the environment and subsequent human beings (Kukutai & Taylor, 2016). A recorded
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violation is about 1-2 percent of the legal requirements concerning drilling permits. Most of
the accidents came about by the improper usage of equipment leading to leakages (Thakur, et
al., 2014).
Impacts on socio-economics
Existing communities are prone to facing some problems imposed by the fracking procedure.
One change is in the community’s demography. This comes about due to the tendency of
mining companies to employ only single males in its staff. They are mostly fly-in-fly-out
employees such as those employed in the Index industry camp in the NT. Males are the most
likely employees. They are flown from other places and states in Australia to work in the NT.
Such scenarios do not lead to improvement and contribution to the inhabiting residents close
to the mining industry (Cheremisinoff & Davletshin, 2015). The relocation and migration of
families can begin happening once they realize that their towns or rural places are being
changed to mining towns. Their relocation is due to the realization that most of their lifestyles
or lives would not be the same if they retain their living places (Donaldson, et al., 2014).
Additional information is the rise in house rent would spike up, thereby they are not likely to
afford them. Water would also be taxed highly and the usage of sewer systems too. Also,
there is the noise, odors, lights, traffic, dust and other disturbances. NT inhabitants would,
therefore, have a similar occurrence once the fracking industries are put up just like the
communities in the USA that completely reliance on the bottled water that the fracking
industries provide. Bottled water provision is due to the pollution of all the water supplies
existing in the mining area and its neighboring areas. Ideally, these inhabitants will have to
shower with the windows open so as to prevent building up of explosive gases. Some
individuals in the USA have had their wells explode due to the explosive gas build up in their
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boreholes. Such scenarios are critical since the communities depend on the bore water for
their existence (Donaldson, et al., 2014).
Conclusion
Majority of the inhabitants of the NT oppose the construction of fracking mines in their
lands. The opposition has been fought on many fronts such as the election polls and
demonstration in the streets. The report has also produced the major concerns that the
fracking mines have on the environment and the communities living nearby. Hydraulic
fracturing poses threats to the inhabitants of the NT. A question on the benefit or damages by
the fracking process concludes that the process is not an advantageous idea (Dayal & Mani,
2017).
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References
Altman, J. & Kerins, S., 2012. People on Country: Vital Landscapes, Indigenous Futures. 1
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Aminzadeh, F. & Dasgupta, S., 2013. Geophysics for Petroleum Engineers. 1 ed. Brisbane:
Newnes.
Berry, M. & Montgomery, C., 2015. Hydraulic Fracturing. illustrated ed. Traralgon–
Morwell: CRC Press.
Brandon, N. & Thompsett, D., 2005. Fuel Cells Compendium. 1 ed. Canberra–Queanbeyan:
Elsevier.
Cheremisinoff, N. & Davletshin, A., 2015. Hydraulic Fracturing Operations: Handbook of
Environmental Management Practices. 1 ed. Hervey Bay: Wiley.
Dayal, A. & Mani, D., 2017. Shale Gas: Exploration and Environmental and Economic
Impacts. 1 ed. Sydney: Elsevier Science.
Donaldson, E., Alam, W. & Begum, N., 2014. Hydraulic Fracturing Explained: Evaluation,
Implementation, and Challenges. 1 ed. Melbourne: Elsevier Science.
Holloway, M., Nwaoha, C. & Onyewuenyi, O., 2012. Process Plant Equipment: Operation,
Control, and Reliability. 1 ed. Sydney: Wiley.
Holloway, M. & Rudd, O., 2013. Fracking: The Operations and Environmental
Consequences of Hydraulic Fracturing. 1 ed. Adelaide: Wiley.
Kukutai, T. & Taylor, J., 2016. Indigenous Data Sovereignty: Toward an agenda. illustrated
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Ma, Z. & Holditch, S., 2015. Unconventional Oil and Gas Resources Handbook: Evaluation
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Speight, J., 2016. Deep Shale Oil and Gas. 1 ed. Ballarat: Elsevier Science.
Speight, J., 2016. Handbook of Hydraulic Fracturing. illustrated ed. Sunshine Coast: John
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Cengage Learning.
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Yew, C., 1997. Mechanics of Hydraulic Fracturing. 1 ed. Geelong: Gulf Professional
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