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hydraulic fracturing

Under the new federal fracking rules, wastewater must be managed onsite and in closed tanks, not in the open pits seen here.

Fracking is about to change, and almost no one is happy about it

Environment

The Obama administration has announced new regulations on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, on federal lands. But while the oil and gas industry is predictably upset about the new rules, environmentalists think the government needs to do more.

Sediment from a stream bed containing fracking wastewater (jars on the left) developed orange residues after 90 days; sediment from a clean stream bed (jar on the right) did not.

As fracking booms, waste spills rise — and so do arsenic levels in groundwater

Environment
In Ohio, concerned citizens can bring water from their wells to a monthly water monitoring program.

Fearing pollution, some local governments are demanding back zoning control over oil and gas

Environment
Water treatment tub in PA

Can fracking solve the problem of polluted mine water in Pennsylvania?

Environment
Fracking tower in PA

Here’s another complication for fracking — radioactive waste

Environment
Fracking site in North Dakota

Fracking went on trial and a Texas family beat the industry

Environment

For the first time, a jury has awarded nearly $3 million in a case claiming that hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, caused health problems for a Texas family. It’s too soon, though, to know if it’s a turning point in the legal battle over fracking’s environmental effects.

Fracking site in North Dakota

Fracking went on trial and a Texas family beat the industry

Environment

For the first time, a jury has awarded nearly $3 million in a case claiming that hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, caused health problems for a Texas family. It’s too soon, though, to know if it’s a turning point in the legal battle over fracking’s environmental effects.