Fracking Controversy Shows No End

Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) of rock in order to free trapped natural gas is an environmentally intensive operation. It has brought about enormous controversy, but the gas deposits trapped thousands of feet below large tracts of American land have been an irresistable energy resource. A lawsuit from West Virginia is typical of the situation. In it, land owners have charged that Chesapeake Appalachia permanently damaged their land when a fracking wastewater pit liner was ruptured. They contend the torn liner was buried on site without repair and continues to leak onto their property.