Fracking is now a household term, albeit a very poorly
understood one. Hydraulic fracturing is a technique used to
promote the flow of fluid and gas to wells. It is even used in
some water wells to increase the flow to the well. Basically, it
involves injecting the well with fluid at high pressure to break
(fracture) the rock surrounding the well, thus allowing the well
to be accessible to a greater volume of the surrounding rock. It
is not a new technique. In the early days, dynamite was used to
break the surrounding rock. What could occur is the creation of
a small area of very broken rock, that could close off pores or
fractures into the surrounding rock, limiting the flow to the
well. Technology has improved dramatically. Nor is the
controversy surrounding fracking new. The San Juan Citizens
Alliance asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to
investigate the effect to groundwater in the early 1990s. By the
late 1990s, there was growing pressure from communities and
individuals for oversight of the