outline for section 2 of report

My section of the report covers the question, 'Is fracking safe?' which is a more complicated question than it sounds because of the various methodologies that are all used in fracking processes in different situations. Here's a basic outline of what my report will cover:

INTRODUCTION

The introduction will briefly introduce the reader to the controversy surrounding fracking, from the likely banning of fracking by the French on account of concerns about aquifer safety to the claim by the oil industry that one million frack jobs have been performed so far without a single aquifer contamination incident.

WATER SAFETY AND CLASS 2 WELLS

This section will use Ohio as a case study, but will also address the wider context of national and global fracking. It will focus on the fear, cited by the French, that aquifers are threatened by fracking. It will discuss the physics of aquifer contamination to better explain why no such thing has happened yet. It will also discuss an unusual incident in which a complaint to the government of Ohio that fracking had contaminated a well was shown to be the result not of fracking but of what by all appearances is the deliberate rock salting of a well. This section will also describe the Class 2 well injection process and similar processes throughout the world, and the risk of salt level changes to areas which elect instead to treat brine and dump it in rivers. It will also mention that some fracking jobs involve no chemicals other than water and sand.

ABOVE-GROUND SAFETY ISSUES

The only fracking fears which have been empirically verified so far have to do with above-ground dumping and spills and chemicals. This section will discuss the case of Cathy Behr, who was injured almost fatally, but recovered, after contact with a 130-gallon fracking fluid spill. It will use her case as a case study for how the regulation of above-ground fracking fluid spills are handled, and the vulnerabilities of current systems. It will also note that the only threat actually proven is rather low on the radar of environmental groups and discuss why this might be so. It will also discuss the controversy over trade secrets.

METHANE CONTAMINATION

This section, a good deal shorter than the rest, will note recent suggestions that fracking may release methane into the soil, perhaps producing a fire hazard, and it will critique weaknesses of the major study which is used to substantiate this threat. It will also address the continual call for more study from a public health / political standpoint.

GLOBAL WARMING

Perhaps a single paragraph will discuss the relevance of global warming to this issue and the ways in which global warming concerns distort the debate over the other effects of fracking.

CONCLUSION

Well, you all know what conclusion sections do. This one will be optimistic about fracking as a practice, while noting that there is some potential in less regulated countries for disaster.