The main problem that the author has addressed in the paper is the importance of

identifying the risks of many events, in this case would be about hydraulic fracturing. It was
mentioned that there are a variety of opinions about the hydraulic fracturing and its effects on the
environment, where some “anti-frack” charges were based on facts and scientific research, while
others have a great misunderstanding about the hydraulic fracturing process, fracturing risk, and
the development of well development activities.
The method and approaches that the author used were providing insight to fracturing
risks, overall process of well development, covering the well construction to well production,
provide an initial estimation of fracturing risk, and alternatives to reduce such risks for the
knowledge of the public and hoping it would clarify any misunderstandings of the effects of
hydraulic fracturing. The facts and studies were taken from research by locations around the
United States, such as the percentage of methane in groundwater, research from universities and
so on.
The main findings of this paper provided information about the methane leakage to the
groundwater, where many locations already have methane in the water well before hydraulic
fracturing. There were also indication of increased methane in the water due to the nearby
improperly constructed gas or oil wells, which is also well before the invention of hydraulic
fracturing. The paper also provided the data on the frequency of pollution incidents in well
operations that concluded that there are no direct relation to hydraulic fracturing. Besides that, it
also included several university research on the impact of natural gas to environment. One study
from Cornell shows that there were lower Green House Gas footprint in natural gas than in coal,
and Duke does not implicate fracturing as a chemical pollution cause. The paper also included
the problems of poor cement jobs that lead to the leakage of gas and the risk reduction
techniques to prevent this problem. Seismic events and hydraulic fracturing were found not to
have any connections. Many of the large seismic events happened before the invention of
hydraulic fracturing, but if fracturing into a moderate sized fault, it may produce seismic energy
sufficient to measure by a nearby instrument. Chemical use and water discharge laws are under
very strict laws on disposing of the harmful waste in the right way.
From this paper, I have learned valuable knowledge about fracking and its processes, the
procedures of well construction to production, how water is treated during drilling and fracking,
and so on. I have also noticed that human error and the poor cementing of the well are two
important factors for risk to the environment and not the fracking process itself as proven by
science. In conclusion, all agents should be more transparent and knowledgeable about fracking
and its process before putting on the blame and well construction and cementing should be done
perfectly to prevent future seepage to the groundwater and improve the transport, storing and
handling of chemical concentrates should be improved.