Political fracture over oil extraction affects Colorado

Fight over oil, gas extraction process of “fracking” moves to Congress

On a December morning in 2007, the Bainbridge, Ohio, home of Thelma and Richard Payne was blasted off its foundations by a natural-gas explosion.

The incident occurred not long after a natural-gas well was drilled and “hydrofractured” nearby. The case became a poster child for “fracking” critics.

While the explosion was clearly linked to the well drilling, the fracking wasn’t the main problem, according to the Ohio Oil and Gas Commission.

The incident, in which no one was injured and the house remained intact, underscores the complexity, confusion and dearth of information surrounding the process and efforts to control it.

It’s an issue that directly touches Colorado, where 95 percent of all oil and gas wells depend on fracking.

The battle is now focused on a bill in Congress