In Ohio, "fracking" boom a delicate issue for Obama
Source: Reuters
Insight: In Ohio, "fracking" boom a delicate issue for Obama
By John Whitesides
STEUBENVILLE, Ohio | Wed May 16, 2012 3:31pm EDT
(Reuters) - Out past the vacant storefronts and abandoned buildings, beyond the shuttered steel mills and decaying industrial plants, residents of eastern Ohio suddenly are seeing dollar signs.
In a region more accustomed to hard times than optimism, residents hope that a boom in shale gas drilling using the controversial technique of hydraulic fracturing - or "fracking" - will lead to wealth, jobs and a reservoir of domestic energy that could dramatically boost the area's fortunes.
But the growth of fracking here and across the nation has raised concerns about contaminated groundwater, how to dispose of toxic waste and even whether fracking causes earthquakes.
In Ohio, that has created an election-year challenge for Democratic President Barack Obama.
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/16/us-usa-campaign-ohio-fracking-idUSBRE84F17520120516
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