Hydraulic fracturing is a natural gas extraction method that has become extremely controversial for its environmental impacts. Fracking is the process of drilling down into the earth before a high-pressure water mixture is directed at the rock to release the gas inside. Water, sand, and chemicals are injected into the rock at high pressure, which allows the gas to flow out to the head of the well. Wastewater produced from this process is highly toxic and filled with a variety of chemicals.
In many cases, people who live near fracking sites have been able to set fire to the water and air that comes through their pipes. It has also been found to contaminate drinking water. Unfortunately, fracking is still somewhat popular publicly because people know very little about it and it is also popular politically because all of the politicians have a hand in it.
Due to an increased prevalence of seismic activity in the vicinity of fracking areas, many activists have pointed out that this process may cause earthquakes as well.
Comment: Without clean water we die. Water literally is life. Much of the drinking water in the US is contaminated with chemicals ranging from pesticides to pharmaceutical drugs, yet this fact is generally ignored until some major crisis (like Flint) bursts into the headlines: