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

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.

Fracking is about to change, and almost no one is happy about it
Nellis Solar Power Plant

Natural gas and solar power have been growing together. Can that last?

Natural gas and solar power have been growing together. Can that last?
Greenpeace activists sit chained in front of Chevron's drilling site for shale gas during a protest in the village of Pungesti, Romania.

American and Russian energy giants battle over a small Romanian town

American and Russian energy giants battle over a small Romanian town
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

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

Fearing pollution, some local governments are demanding back zoning control over oil and gas
Water treatment tub in PA

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

If there is anything people in Pennsylvania can agree on, it is that no one can agree whether the fracking boom has been a blessing or a curse for the state. A now a proposal to use abandoned mine water for tracking is causing more confusion and concern.

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

Here's another complication for fracking — radioactive waste

Fracking is already a controversial topic, with environmentalists charging that the technique could ruin drinking water, along with other pollution problems. But now, radioactive waste from drilling the wells is raising a whole new environmental concern.

Here's another complication for fracking — radioactive waste
Fracking site in North Dakota

Fracking went on trial and a Texas family beat the industry

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 went on trial and a Texas family beat the industry