Fracking or Not Fracking? Is your home foundation in danger due to this technique used to extract underground gas?
The science is divided on the issue. Like on most other issues, from global warning to bigfoot, you will always find one scientist on one side and another scientist of the other of the issue.
As you would expect, the businesses doing the fracking are adamant that there is no proof that fracking is causing any increases in local earthquakes or much less an increase of foundation problems for residents leaving near the fracking sites.
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However, the homeowners leaving with the sudden increase in slab and sheet rock cracking, have associated the foundation damage with the beginning of the fracking activity in the areas near them.
Fracking is short for “hydraulic fracturing” and as the name implies, liquids are used to fraction masses of land and rocks in the soil to release and capture natural gas. Now, without getting too technical, some geologists swear that the fracking is happening to deep in the soil for anyone to notice, while others are saying that the increase in ground shifting is directly related to such activity. It would not take a long leap to see how that could be true.
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In the meantime, the city of Denton could make news by becoming the FIRST town in Texas to ban fracking all together. Denton sits right on top of the Barnett Shale, believed to be one of the largest natural gas reserves in U.S. If the ban takes place, the currently operating 275 wells would continue to operate but no new ones or re-activation of old ones would be allowed.
Some opponents are hopeful that the ban will stop the drilling, in same cases, as close as 200 feet to new residential constructions.
Have you experienced any issues with fracking and foundation repairs? Do you live near a fracking site and suspect your home foundations maybe experiencing stress related to the fracking activities?
Let us know your thoughts.
Some of the sources used for this post:
http://ooga.org/our-industry/hydraulic-fracturing/
http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southcentral/2014/05/09/328747.htm