Benefits of Fracking

When it comes to fracking in Colorado, drillers are after one thing; Niobrara Shale. This is a type of shale found in Colorado. According to Halliburton, the Niobrara Shale is a new and tight resource which contains one to five percent organic properties and is rich in oil and gas reserves. Per an article by Stanford, even though fracking requires more water than conventional gas drilling, in the long run it saves more water. What the article doesn’t explain is how or how much it saves. The article goes on to say that “In the eastern United States, fears of contaminated drinking water have raised more concerns than fracking's water consumption.” Even though the article explains that the toxic chemicals rarely move upward toward the drinking water, is the slight chance of this happening really worth it? According to the author, during the fracking process, fluid is used to fracture the shale then flows back up the well and water is unleashed with the oil and gas. This water becomes wastewater, which has become a highly-debated topic. Most of the wastewater is used in safe ways, however some states still allow the wastewater to be used to “water cattle, be sprayed on roads for dust control or sent to municipal water-treatment plants not equipped to handle the chemicals involved.” I wonder if the last bit of water needs to be used as such. The article closes out by saying that further research is needed for the true health risks of fracking near homes. Especially on the direct impacts on the residents of near-by wells. It also says that decisions on approvals and bans on fracking are made all the time based on assumptions. My question is, what research needs to be done and how do we go about obtaining this research? Hopefully we will know soon.