The World

Is Fracking Making People Sick?

The jury is out on the public health impacts of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas, but some health workers are beginning to collect data in an ongoing search for clues.

Some Pennsylvania residents who live near Marcellus Shale gas wells believe natural gas drilling is contaminating their water and making them sick. But others point to the economic benefits of fracking and say there’s little scientific evidence that exposure to drilling activities causes illness. Reid Frazier of The Allegheny Front reports.