Thursday, February 9

Geoscientists call for honest dialogue on fracking

(AP) TULSA, Okla. — Better industry oversight, an honest dialogue with the public about controversial drilling methods and a clearer explanation from companies about how clean, natural gas can be extracted from wells drilled hundreds of feet underground is desperately needed from energy companies, two geoscientists said Tuesday.

The two spoke as part of a panel on hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," a controversial process that uses water, sand and other additives to free natural gas underground.

Critics worry about water and other environmental contamination and point to hundreds of earthquakes that have hit Oklahoma since fracking was introduced. But supporters say those fears are overblown.

One prominent proponent, billionaire energy magnate T. Boone Pickens, recently boasted that out of the 800,000 wells that have been fracked in the Southwest, he didn't know of a single lawsuit or complaint that arose from the process — even offering that he had fracked "over 3,000 wells" himself.


CBS News


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