In the last decade the term "fracking" has become part of the national lexicon.
Now, it's the focus of a new anthology that pulls together the work of almost 50 writers. It's called Fracture: Essays, Poems, and Stories on Fracking in America.
The anthology was edited by Taylor Brorby and Stefanie Brook Trout.
Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, has been around for decades. It's a method of extracting natural gas or oil by drilling into rock and allowing the fossil fuel to escape.
The reason it started to become more well known is because of a development called horizontal hydraulic fracturing.
Instead of just drilling down, technology was developed to turn the drill bit horizontally and frack along the rock for long distances. It also led to more complaints about contaminated water wells, and in some cases minor earth tremors.
The process also requires much more fracking fluid, which uses a lot of water mixed with chemicals that make it unusable upon retrieval.
That has a lot of people more than a little concerned.
Trout joined us today along with Maryann Lesert?, who wrote one of the stories in Fracture, to talk about the collection and some of the concerns voiced by the writers who contributed to the project.
GUESTS Stefanie Brook Trout is a Grand Rapids-based author and teacher. Maryann Lesert is an associate professor at Grand Rapids Community College.
(Subscribe to the Stateside podcast on iTunes, Google Play, or with this RSS link)
