Abstract
The fracking debate is a product of the tension between the environmental degradation it may cause, on the one hand, and on the other the greater energy demands of a rapidly increasing South African population with expectations of an ever-increasing standard of living. Shale gas fracking in the Karoo of South Africa promises to make vast reserves of oil and gas available to help meet a significant percentage of the country’s energy needs for many years to come. This will aid development and contribute to raising the standard of living of many. This article seeks to apprise the South African faith communities of the technology and risks involved. Christian theological guidelines are presented by which its benefits and dangers may be interrogated so that the community may be able come to an informed decision as to whether or not to support fracking.
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Notes
See Fig. 1: See diagram focusing on Water Lifecycle in Hydraulic Fracturing.
Permeability describes the ability of a substance (such as water, oil or gas) to move through a rock, from one pore space to the next.
‘Shale’ is a rock that is clay that has been baked by heat and pressure over millions of years so that it is now flaky and hard.
Figure 2: See diagram of the borehole and gas extraction conduit.
Figure 3: See diagram indicating origin and nature of igneous intrusions in the Karoo.
Figure 4: Generalized cross section of geology across the main Karoo basin.
Figure 3 Diagram depicting the complex nature of igneous intrusions in the Karoo strata.
See Fig. 5 for a diagrammatic representation of an artesian basin.
Water at depth can include trace amounts of NORM, (Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material) with the consequence that scale and sludge build-up inside the pipework, tanks etc. of the production infrastructure may result in a concentration of radioactive materials (Dept: Mineral Resources 2012: 49). Vermeulen (2012: 154, 155) states that little is known about groundwater quality beyond a depth of 300 m, and heavy metal and radioactive element concentrations at depth are unknown and with the implication that they may exist in water at this depth.
Water Quality Control Commission.
A recent investigation by the House of Representatives in the USA found that 750 chemical compounds were used from 2005 to 2009 in fracking fluid. This included 29 chemicals that are known as or possible as human carcinogens. BTEX compounds appeared in 60 of the hydraulic fracturing products used in this period (Steyl and Van Tonder 2013:10). BTEX is an acronym that stands for benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes. These compounds are some of the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) found in petroleum derivatives such as petrol. Toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes have harmful effects on the central nervous system and are notorious due to the contamination of soil and groundwater with these compounds. Contamination typically occurs near petroleum and natural gas production sites, petrol stations, and other areas with underground storage tanks (USTs) or above-ground storage tanks (ASTs), containing gasoline or other petroleum-related products (European Environment Agency, 2010, BTEX).
This possibility is illustrated by the uranium-enriched Karoo rocks found near Edenburg, Beaufort West and Victoria, which may be the result of the process called mineralization, where water seeping up from below has deposited radioactive elements in the host rocks (Norman and Whitfield 2006: 116ff).
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Tucker, A.R., van Tonder, G. The Karoo Fracking Debate: A Christian Contribution to the World Communities of Faith. Sci Eng Ethics 21, 631–653 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-014-9563-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-014-9563-7