a lament to the rupturing earth beneath Pennsylvania and the rupturing communities above it all
In 1865 explosives were used for the first time in the process of oil recovery in the United States-- in the woods of northwestern Pennsylvania. This was the origin of the American oil industry.
In 1963 the Richfield Oil Corporation filed for a patent under the name “Process for recovering petroleum utilizing a nuclear explosion”— this was part of the development of Massive Hydraulic Fracturing, or "fracking".
In April 2013 Ryan Larkanich, three years old, took a bath in his home in Washington County, Pennsylvania and emerged with permanent neurological damage due to drilling toxins.
In June 2020 there were more than 13,220 active fracking wells in Pennsylvania- and growing.