Hydraulic Fracturing & Policy Actions in New York Research Paper

Hydraulic Fracturing & Policy Actions in New York - Research Paper Example The country has several potential sites for oil deposits which recently have been explored by oil-drilling companies. The latest innovation on oil drilling techniques has opened opportunities for the United States to become oil dependent, opening abundant supply of natural gases which the US didn’t have several years ago. One of the newest techniques being used for extracting high volume oil is called â€Å"Hydraulic Fracturing†. Even though this new technique would open up a big opportunity for the United States to become self-sufficient on oil, there is still manifold repudiation on the ratification of the proposal on several states as bunch of claims were raised that this type of gas extraction might come at the expense of the health of the public as well as the environment. Many government agencies proposed policies in order to regulate the natural gas explorations in various states in the country. This particular study focuses on the pathway of the states of New Yo rk alongside Pennsylvania in the writing of parametric policies that will regulate the oil-drilling operations and at the same time to protect the public safety by ensuring prevention of contaminating the water supplies and precluding some other side effects of Hydraulic Fracturing from taking place. What is Hydraulic Fracturing? â€Å"Hydraulic Fracturing is the propagation of fractures in a rock layer caused by the presence of a pressurized fluid. Hydraulic fractures may form naturally, as in the case of veins or dikes, or may be man-made in order to release petroleum, natural gas, coal seam gas, or other substances for extraction, where the technique is often called frackin or hydrofracking.†Ã‚  frackin  or  hydrofracking.† Since there are solid rock formations underneath the soil, hydraulic fracturing also uses chemicals and other substances in a form of highly-pressurized fluid that will fracture the rock formation paving the way towards the recovery of fossil fuels which are later to be converted into various petroleum products. In the United States, Hydraulic Fracturing is defined as â€Å"†¦is the process of utilizing pressurized water, chemical additives, and physical proppants to fracture rock layers and release petroleum, natural gas, or other substances so that they can be e xtracted.† Proppants are substances in forms of sand or fine coarse to prevent drilled holes from closing when operations are tentatively ceased. Hydraulic Fracturing is also common outside the United States. In Canada, though they have started the drilling operations by fracking in the 1990s, complaints about its safety as verbalized by the concerned and affected residents arose only after eleven years. In Australia, hydraulic fracturing is also very common; however, there were reported breakage or leaks on the pipes used for extraction which as per the report has contaminated the water supply in some parts of Australia. This has triggered the national and local governments in Australia to regulate the oil-drilling operations by potently prohibiting the inclusion of chemicals in the drilling process. Some other countries which use hydraulic fracturing are New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom. Further, France had also used the technique but was eventually sent to c losure after manifold public complaints. THE HYDRAULIC FRACTURING AND POLICY ACTION IN NEW YORK 4 The environmental and