"Sandy Raises Concerns About Fracking"

"WASHINGTON -- As Sandy lashed the Eastern Seaboard this week, some environmental groups raised concerns that the superstorm’s brute force could overwhelm feeble storage pits adjacent to fracking sites."



"In turn, critics said, that could allow the unintended release of toxic materials from the oil and gas hydraulic fracturing operations into streams and farmland in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio which were hit by Sandy.

Industry groups say they hunkered down for the storm before it reached land Monday and were well prepared to keep the waste quarantined. They dispute any accusation from critics that they cut corners in securing toxic fluids.

At issue are the storage sites holding chemicals near the wells. Fracking, as the controversial process is known, involves pumping millions of gallons of water and additives into underground rock formations to release deposits of oil or natural gas."

Isaac Wolf reports for Scripps Howard News Service October 30, 2012.
 

Source: Scripps Howard, 10/31/2012