
The impacts of the fracking industry stretch far beyond the oil and gas drilling fields that have dominated the headlines in recent years and become one of the nation’s top environmental controversies. From the lush Ohio River Valley and the rolling farmlands of southeast Wisconsin, the fracking industry’s demand for raw material and waste disposal have fractured once tight-knit communities and turned life in rural neighborhoods completely upside down. In April, Truthout reporter Mike Ludwig traveled to Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ohio to see where the controversial fracking process begins and ends – in the silica mines and waste disposal sites.
Will Ohio Be Fracking’s Radioactive Dumping Ground?
Wednesday, 05 June 2013
By Mike Ludwig, Truthout | Report
Our most important fundraising appeal of the year
December is the most critical time of year for Truthout, because our nonprofit news is funded almost entirely by individual donations from readers like you. So before you navigate away, we ask that you take just a second to support Truthout with a tax-deductible donation.
This year is a little different. We are up against a far-reaching, wide-scale attack on press freedom coming from the Trump administration. 2025 was a year of frightening censorship, news industry corporate consolidation, and worsening financial conditions for progressive nonprofits across the board.
We can only resist Trump’s agenda by cultivating a strong base of support. The right-wing mediasphere is funded comfortably by billionaire owners and venture capitalist philanthropists. At Truthout, we have you.
We’ve set an ambitious target for our year-end campaign — a goal of $205,000 to keep up our fight against authoritarianism in 2026. Please take a meaningful action in this fight: make a one-time or monthly donation to Truthout before December 31. If you have the means, please dig deep.