By: Jon Queally, 02/05/2014

New study shows that fracking boom is happening in places that can least afford to lose precious water supplies. The irony of fracking: It destroys the natural resource it needs most. The tragedy for those living nearby fracking operations: That natural resource is the fresh—and increasingly scarce—water supply on which they, too, depend.

And not only does fracking—or hydraulic fracturing—demand enormous amounts of fresh water no matter where it takes places, a troubling new study released Wednesday found that a majority of places where the controversial drilling technique is most prevalent are the same regions where less and less water is available.

For more on this story visit www.commondreams.org

The Guardian, By: Helen Pidd, 12/26/2013

As the wind felled trees, flooded homes and cancelled ferries this week, much of the nation needed little excuse to stay indoors. But for a group of hardy anti-fracking protesters camped by the M62 on Barton Moss in Salford, near Manchester, going inside was not an option, explained Joe Boyd, a 40-year-old builder from Liverpool who was on not just his first demo but also his first real camping trip.

Before the storms hit the north, Boyd was already wrapped up warm: a coat, a fleece, two woolly jumpers, a lumberjack shirt and a turtleneck base layer, two pairs of socks, pyjama bottoms and waterproof trousers. His tent had a fluffy rug over the ground sheet, he had insulated his lilo and worked out the optimum number of sleeping bags and quilts to sleep under without either roasting or freezing to death. But he refused to moan. The way he sees it, a little bit of discomfort is worth it to avert an "environmental disaster".

News Beacon Ireland, By: R. Teichmann, 12/21/2013

Largely unreported by the mainstream media, something remarkable is happening in the small village of Pungesti in Romania. People are standing up for Life. But the protest against fracking and the US Giant Chevron is not only local. For today a day of national mobilisation has been announced. You can follow the unfolding events in Romania, which may hold many lessons for us in Ireland by going to the website.

For more information visit www.zengardner.com

Theguardian.com, By: Adam Vaughan, 12/18/2013

Anti-fracking protesters trying to stop an oil drilling operations in Salford have parked a bus across the site. The campaigning group Platform said that there were five people locked to the bus, which is reportedly blocking the entrance at the Barton Moss site run by IGas. The action follows a similar one on Monday, when protesters temporarily blocked the heavily fortified site by dumping a 17-metre wind turbine blade. The blade was subsequently removed.

For more on this story visit www.theguardian.com

Epoch Times, By: Sarah Matheson, 12/16/2013

High levels of hormone-disrupting chemicals have been found in water samples near fracking sites in Colorado, according to research accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society’s journal Endocrinology. The chemicals “could raise the risk of reproductive, metabolic, neurological and other diseases, especially in children who are exposed to EDCs [endocrine-disrupting chemicals],” said one of the study’s authors, Susan Nagel, of the University of Missouri School of Medicine.

Researchers took surface and ground water samples from sites with drilling spills or accidents in Garfield County, Colo. The area has more than 10,000 natural gas wells. Researchers also looked at control samples from sites without spills in Garfield County, as well samples from Boone County, Missouri.

For more on this story visit: www.epochtimes.com