I don’t usually post on Sundays, but I wanted to share this series of articles from the Beaver County Times. Saturday’s story explores “brine” or wastewater disposal. Sunday’s piece (not yet posted online) profiles a driver of one of the trucks hauling away the wastewater. The disposal of what comes out of the ground is another layer in the controversy over fracking.
The U.S. Geological Survey released a study recently linking fracking wastewater disposal in deep wells to recent earthquakes in the United States near these wells. Another website EcoWatch also presents information on this subject.
To be fair, I checked the Marcellus Shale Coalition website and put in “fracking wastewater.” Here’s what came up: http://marcelluscoalition.org/2012/11/what-theyre-saying-natural-gas-creating-significant-environmental-benefits-sparking-a-manufacturing-renaissance/.
My searches haven’t turned up anything else in response to this. Please let me know if there’s another side to this issue. I’m a journalist, and I want to be fair. I also live atop the Marcellus Shale and want solid unbiased answers.
Living Lightly 
I’m not sure this is quite what you’re looking for, but High Country News (www.hcn.org) has done extensive journalism on fracking in the American West.
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Thanks. It’s important – lots of fracking going on out west and even though they may be drilling into something different than the Marcellus Shale here, it’s still fracking and some of the same practices are used.
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Yes — the big issue out here (West) is groundwater contamination.
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So many times we rush into things without thinking of all the ramifications. Natural gas extraction is now one of those things, I’m afraid. We need so much more information; but in the meantime, the drilling continues.
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