The first high-profile spill at a natural gas hydraulic fracturing operation is proving to be no “Macondo” Gulf spill for the industry, which is pressing ahead on an sector-transforming drilling program.
Growing reliance by electricity generators on natural gas is unlikely to be weakened by reports of air and water contamination by the booming shale-gas industry, even after an April 20 gas well blowout in Pennsylvania renewed concerns that the hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) technology used to harvest shale gas is a threat to water quality, power-industry analysts said. Keep reading →