Hydrofracked? One Man's Mystery Leads to a Backlash Against Natural Gas Drilling (Kindle Single) [Kindle Edition]

Abrahm Lustgarten (Author)

Book Description

When the well water on Louis Meeks’ ranch turned brown and oily, he suspected that the thousands of natural gas wells dotting the once-empty Wyoming landscape were somehow to blame. The hard part was proving it. Meeks’ struggle to get the energy companies to take responsibility, meticulously documented through three years of investigative reporting by ProPublica’s Abrahm Lustgarten, coincide with a national uproar over the oil and gas drilling process called hydraulic fracturing – a technology that promises to open large new energy supplies, perhaps at the expense of the nation’s water.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The perfect blend of storytelling and investigative journalism, author Abrahm Lustgarten starts his narrative with retired veteran Louis Meeks discovering his water supply is contaminated. Convinced that the blame lies with gas drilling company EnCana, Meeks sets out to find evidence proving his claim and the story quickly becomes reminiscent of Erin Brockovich. Hydrofracked hooks the reader by revealing facts and clues as Meeks uncovers them for himself. The result is an engaging story that has you rooting for the underdog and hoping justice prevails. --Shirley Hong

Product Details

• File Size: 127 KB
• Print Length: 43 pages
• Publisher: ProPublica (February 22, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004P1IXZE
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,871 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)
  • #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Science > Earth Sciences > Environmental Science
  • #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle Singles > Reporting
  • #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Physics > Energy

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 51 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This Book Will Make You Angry March 2, 2011

By Janette Fuller

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Hydraulic fracturing is a process that results in the creation of fractures in rocks. The most important industrial use is in stimulating oil and gas wells, where hydraulic fracturing has been used for over 60 years in more than one million wells. Man-made fluid-driven fractures are formed at depth in a borehole and extend into targeted formations. "Hydrofracked? One Man's Mystery Leads to a Backlash Against Natural Gas Drilling (Kindle Single)", by Abrahm Lustgarten from ProPublica, tells the story of one man's fight to find the cause of the polluted water well on his Wyoming property. ProPublica is an independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest.

Louis Meeks, a Vietnam War hero, has lived on his 40-acre plot of land near Pavillion, Wyoming, for over 35 years. In the spring of 2005, Meeks' water had turned bad. His tap ran cloudy, and the water shimmered with rainbow swirls across a filmy top. The scent was sharp, like gasoline. Mr. Meeks suspected that environmental factors were to blame. Since the mid 1990's, more than 1000 gas wells had been drilled in the region. Meeks learned that in hydraulic fracturing, a brew of chemicals is injected deep into the earth to lubricate the fracturing and work its way into the rock. How far it goes and where it ends up, no one really knows. Meeks wondered if that wasn't what ruined his well.

This is a heart-wrenching story about one man's struggle to fight big government agencies and the oil and gas industries. The Meeks family has endured endless financial and personal defeats but they continue to fight. They have joined forces with some of their neighbors who also have polluted water. In November, 2010, Mr. Meeks had a heart attack. His doctors told him it was probably caused by stress. Mr. and Mrs. Meeks are still living on their ranch near Pavillion. They are drinking bottled water but do not have clean water to bath in, or to water the garden or to feed the animals. A realtor said that because of the water problems, the property is worthless and could not be sold.

This story makes me feel very angry. This could happen to anyone. I live in a rural area and I am dependant on a water well. There is research being done and evidence is being collected....I think we will be hearing much more about this problem in the future.

25 of 32 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars You Must Read This February 27, 2011

By Margaret H VINE™ VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

If you drink water, you must read this. If you suspect your government, local and state as well as federal, values corporate money above your well-being, you must read this. Excellent and maddening, a call for action. So current that its subject is also lead news in today's (Feb. 27, 2011) New York Times.

13 of 18 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Debunked October 24, 2012

By TubbyJ

Format:Kindle Edition

This book is rubbish. After years of costly litigation this story was found to be FALSE by government and outside agencies. If the EPA, the flagship for stopping anything with even a hint of harming the groundwater system, says that this story is untrue and all evidence shows that the water contaminants where not from "fracking", along with 2 other independent studies, then it looks like another enviro-nutjob trying to stir the pot. Shame on anyone that reads this and falls for it without checking the facts.