A recently circulated video on the fracking process has been a big hit and miss for the media organization TED.
The six-minute animated video titled “How Does Fracking Work?” was released on July 13 via social media. It has quickly amassed nearly five million views. While the educational video demonstrates the step-by-step process of fracking, it squarely contrasts with several studies regarding the differences between wastewater injection and fracking as well as water contamination from the fracking process.
The TED video muddles wastewater injection with fracking while addressing seismicity. A study focused on Oklahoma’s hydraulic fracturing and wastewater injection practices was released in June by the University of Alberta. The peer-reviewed study concluded that Oklahoma’s seismic activity was an anomaly.
“We find that increased seismicity in Oklahoma, likely due to salt-water disposal, has an 85% correlation with oil production,” concluded the study.
The United States Geological Survey has also weighed in on induced seismicity, differentiating from the two separate processes of wastewater injection and fracking.
“Fracking is NOT causing most of the induced earthquakes,” states the USGS. “Wastewater disposal is the primary cause of the recent earthquakes in the central United States.”
The TED video also asserts that fracking fluids may contaminate drinking water aquifers. This contrasts with well-known processes which require activity to occur roughly two miles below the ground’s surface whereas residential water wells are found at 500 feet and aquifers are normally located in the middle. This is further confirmed by two separate studies. In a Yale University study from 2015, it found “no evidence for direct communication with shallow drinking water wells due to upward migration from shale horizons.”
The EPA also issued a five-year study on drinking water and fracking. The agency concluded, “flow through the production formation has generally been considered an unlikely pathway for migration into drinking water resources” due to insufficient pressure to push fluids into the pathway of drinking water.
To review the video, see https://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-does-fracking-work-mia-nacamulli.
