A new graphic is dispelling environmentalists’ claims that hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, uses toxic chemicals to extract shale oil and natural gas.
Water and sand make up 99.51 percent of fracking fluid, according to an infographic published by the energy industry group Energy In Depth. Fracking fluid has only a few thousand gallons of additives for every one million gallons of water and sand. These additives include instant coffee, walnut shells, table salt, laundry detergent, make-up remover, lemon juice and soap.
Despite numerous claims from environmentalists, the idea that fracking fluid will end up in local groundwater is false.
“Basic geology prevents such contamination from starting below ground,” according to the magazine Popular Mechanics. “A fracture caused by the drilling process would have to extend through the several thousand feet of rock that separate deep shale gas deposits from freshwater aquifers.”
Fracking has been repeatedly proven to not contaminate drinking water by state regulatory bodies, academics and even the Environmental Protection Agency in 2015.
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