Knowledge of oil deposits in North Dakota is widespread. Concern has been expressed regarding everything from oil drilling to hydrofracking. People have begun to question the safeness and effects.

In 2006, the Bakken oil fields began to see drilling increase. The area covers roughly 14000 sq. miles and is expected to contain an astonishing 300 billion barrels of oil, giving it the potential to be the largest reserve in the continental United States. The drilling has brought life into the once desolate areas of northwestern North Dakota. There is an abundance of jobs available, as well as the wealth that accompanies them. The volume and size of highway traffic has greatly increased – a  traffic count in 2011 indicated that in one 24 hour period, 29,000 vehicles passed through.

As mentioned in a previous post, civil engineers possess expertise and knowledge in the fields of transportation, structures, waters, and the environment. Engineers possess skills in things such as soil mechanics, hydrology, waste management, and highway design. The work they perform is meant to enhance human welfare and the environment.





The first process in drilling for oil involves setting up a derrick for drilling. The derrick is usually drilled a few thousand feet below the surface and is then turned horizontally to drill sideways. This has been the process and way of oil drilling since the beginning. At this point the well is prepared for the fracking process. Steel casings are put into place and set in with cement. The depth of the casings and cement vary with each individual well. The location of the water table and the soils comprising the well site are used in determining factors such as depth. Following this is the fracking process itself. The process requires millions of gallons of water to be trucked to the well site where it is mixed with sand and miscellaneous chemicals. From this point it is pumped into the well and pressurized to cause the shale to break open and release the trapped oil. This process acts much like a miniature earth quake. When hydrofracking, some of the slurry (water, chemical, and sand mixture) comes back out of the well and is pumped into a nearby storage pond. From here it is desirable to use the slurry in the drilling of other wells.



Like many things in life, things can go wrong. The casing can crack in the process of fracking, allowing contamination of groundwater. The slurry mix that returns from the surface can contaminate the soil if mishandled. The abundance of heavy traffic can cause highways to disintegrate and crumble much quicker than what they were designed for. As civil engineers, I feel that we do not have enough say in what actually takes place.

Overall, the effects of oil drilling - more specifically hydrofracking – on the welfare of humans and the environment have not yet been fully determined. The Environmental Protection Agency has scrutinized the practice in the past and has now begun re-examining it again. As a civil engineer it would be my responsibility to protect the welfare of the people and the environment. My response is that fracking requires much more research. I recommend that until things are deemed safe, the practice should not be continued.