Hydro-fracturing

From Wikimarcellus

Hydro-fracturing, or fracing for short, is the process of injecting water, sand, diesel fuel, and/or a cocktail of chemicals into a well under high pressure to fracture the shale thereby releasing methane gas that is trapped in pores of the rock.

Many environmentalists have raised concerned about this process as a source of toxic contamination of the water supply. It also requires millions of gallons of water which usually must be trucked into drilling sites. The trucks used to bring in water and the diesel engines used to power drilling and pumping equipment on the site are recognized as a sources of air pollution. They have also led to concerns about noise-control issues not only from the pumping equipment at the time of drilling, but also from compressors which run continuously once the well is producing.