Workers move a section of well casing into place at a Chesapeake Energy natural gas well site near Burlington, Pa. Fracking uses water mixed with sand and chemicals to break underground rock and release large amounts of gas. (Associated Press)
The natural gas industry and its opponents are readying their final arguments for what many think will be a critical year in the debate over “fracking” safety.
Supporters of the hydraulic fracturing process - the use of water, sand and chemicals to break underground rock and release huge amounts of gas - boast of recent economic growth, with hundreds of thousands of jobs created in the past several years and small, sleepy communities in Pennsylvania, North Dakota and elsewhere transformed into boomtowns.
Skeptics point to reports of suspected water contamination and links to earthquakes that some consider too high a price to pay.
Both sides of the debate eagerly await an Environmental Protection Agency report due out later this year that observers generally expect to call for harsh crackdowns and new federal regulations on the practice.
The Washington Times
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