The fight over fracking.

• Author: Barth, Amy
• Position: NATIONAL

The controversial drilling method has spurred a boom in U.S. oil production. But does it harm the environment--and people's health?

In 2005, Linda and David Headley purchased their dream home, a 115-acre ranch with hills, trees, and grassy farmland in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. A creek runs through their property, and a freshwater spring supplied them with water. It seemed like the perfect place to raise kids.

But suddenly, in 2007, bulldozers began appearing on the Headleys' property. Trucks arrived carrying water, chemicals, and sand. Workers began drilling holes in the land. They were using a technique called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to extract oil and natural gas trapped deep underground in a type of rock called shale. The oil and gas would eventually be used as fuel to heat buildings, cook food, power cars, and generate electricity.

When the Headleys bought the ranch, they didn't buy the property's oil and gas rights from the previous owner. Without their knowledge, the owner had rented the rights to gas companies before the Headleys moved in. Those rights allow workers to legally enter the property at any time to remove oil and gas.

Around the same time that the fracking began, the Headleys started having health problems.

"I sometimes have trouble breathing," says Linda. "My oldest son [Grant] gets rashes. My youngest son is only 8 and he gets horrible stomach aches and nosebleeds."

The family blames its health problems on pollution from fracking. Oil and gas unearthed during the fracking process--and likely some chemicals used to help extract those resources--leaked onto their land and into their water supply. Several of the Headleys' neighbors, who also have wells on their land, have gotten sick too.

"Before this started, we were all healthy," says Linda.

Today, the Headleys' property has five fracking wells. The freshwater spring they once relied on for water is now so cloudy they can't drink from it. For a while, they had to bring in truckloads of clean water from Linda's mom's house, two miles away. The spring their horses once drank from is so rich with gas that it can be set on fire. And they've had to rescue their dog, Banjo, from a puddle of sludge in their yard.

In the past decade, stories like the Headleys' have become increasingly common. They're now at the center of a nationwide debate about whether fracking should be allowed in the United States.

Supporters of fracking say it has unlocked a tremendous amount of oil and natural gas in the U.S., created tens of thousands of jobs, and brought money to communities that desperately need it. It, along with other factors, has also helped lower the price of gas in the U.S.

But the technique has also raised health and environmental concerns. In December, the Environmental Protection Agency concluded for the first time that fracking can contaminate drinking water. The technique has become so controversial that some states--including New York and Vermont--have banned it (see map, p. 10). Many people are left wondering: Is fracking worth the risks?

The U.S. lies atop more than a dozen large shale formations, which contain huge amounts of oil and natural gas. To get to those resources, fracking companies drill about a mile underground to reach the rock (see diagram, fating page). Then they inject millions of gallons of water--mixed with sand and chemicals--into the shale at very high pressure. The pressure creates small cracks, or fractures, within the rock, which release the gas and oil trapped inside. Workers then capture and sell the fuel.

Fracking has existed since the 1940s, but the technology has greatly improved in recent years. Today, it generates more than half of all oil produced in the U.S., up from less than 2 percent in 2000.

The vast majority of fracking--about 90 percent--takes place on state and private property, where the federal government has little control. Each state has its own fracking rules. Some require that companies fully disclose the chemicals they use, while others have few regulations.

Benefits & Harm

Supporters of fracking say the process is safe and that the oil and gas industry follows guidelines to prevent water contamination. Plus, they say, the method has brought huge benefits to the U.S. and local communities.

For one, it has made the U.S. less dependent on foreign oil, a goal the U.S. has been working toward for decades. Though the...