To view every article that DeSmog has published about fracking, please visit this link.

Below is a selection of some of our key coverage of the fracking industry:

Fracking and Radioactivity

1982 American Petroleum Institute Report Warned Oil Workers Faced ‘Significant’ Risks from Radioactivity

Duke Study Finds A “Legacy of Radioactivity,” Contamination from Thousands of Fracking Wastewater Spills

As Oil Prices Collapse, North Dakota Considers Weakening Standards on Radioactive Drilling Waste

Finances of Fracking

Since 2007, the oil and gas industry has lost $280 billion betting on the shale boom, which has been made possible by hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and Wall Street financing, and these companies are still borrowing heavily. Read the series here. 

Fracking and Water

The Fracking Industry’s Water Nightmare

Fracking’s Dirty Water Problem Is Getting Much Bigger

Fracking Wastewater Spikes 1,440% in Half Decade, Adding to Dry Regions’ Water Woes

EPA Decides Not to Regulate Fracking Wastewater as Pennsylvania Study Reveals Recent Spike

EPA Study: Fracking Puts Drinking Water Supplies at Risk of Contamination

Fracking for Plastics

This is a DeSmog investigation into the proposed petrochemical build-out in the Ohio River Valley and the major players involved, along with the environmental, health, and socio-economic implications. We’ll explore the claims of how clean and safe the American chemical industry really is, health risks for chemical industry workers, the bait-and-switch argument that bills fracking as moving the U.S. toward energy independence rather than plastic dependence, and the groups involved in pushing for and against stronger health and environmental regulations of this industry.

Fracking and Methane

The Hunt for Fugitive Emissions in the Permian’s Oilfields

The Fracking Industry’s Methane Problem Is a Climate Problem

Fracking and Shale Drilling Caused Spike in Climate-Warming Methane Pollution, Says New Study

Making Visible the Globe-warming Gases of the Permian Fracking Boom

This Problem With Fracked Oil and Gas Wells Is Occurring ‘at an Alarming Rate’

More on Fracking

Fracking The Future: How Unconventional Gas Threatens Our Water, Health and Climate – DeSmog’s full-length report about fracking.

Gas Industry’s Use of PSYOPS military psychological warfare tactics on U.S. soil – DeSmog’s investigation into the gas industry’s troubling intimidation campaign.

Frac Sand  – a collection of articles related to the mining of sand for use in hydraulic fracturing.

Shale Gas Exports – a collection of articles related to exportation of fracked gas in the form of LNG (liquefied natural gas) 

Shale Gas Bubble – a collection of articles related to the a prospective “shale gas bubble” akin to the 2008 “housing bubble”

Fracking Climate Impacts – DeSmog’s coverage of the “Cornell Study,” which showed shale gas extraction is dirtier than coal from a crade-to-grave lifecycle standpoint 

Shale Gas “Bridge Fuel” – Our coverage of shale gas as a “bridge” leading off the climate change cliff

Shale Gas-powered Vehicles – Our coverage of T. Boone Pickens and others’ promotion of shale gas-powered vehicles

Additional fracking information from around the web:

New York Times series on fracking – Drilling Down

ProPublica series on Fracking: Gas Drilling’s Environmental Threat

ProPublica timeline of notable U.S. government actions on fracking: From Gung-Ho to Uh-Oh: Charting the Government’s Moves on Fracking