The industry has boomed in recent years, thanks to a stunning expansion of drilling in previously untapped areas because of the use of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which injects sand, water and chemicals to break apart rock and free the gas inside.

NPR: EPA Methane Report Further Divides Fracking Camps

This year he completed what is believed to be the first ever fracture stimulation procedure in Turkey: injecting a mixture of water and sand at high pressure down the wells to break up rock and release gas.

FORBES: Magazine Article

More than 10 drillers have already received Department of Environmental Protection permission to use mine discharges for fracking, a technique in which millions of gallons of water, along with chemical additives and sand, are pumped down a well to break apart gas-bearing shale deposits.

WSJ: Pa. pushes drillers to frack with coal mine water

During fracking, large volumes of water, along with sand and hazardous chemicals, are injected into the ground to break rock apart and free the oil and gas.

WSJ: Fracking coalition upsets both greens and drillers