Ms. De Guire,

I was astonished and angered by your choice of phraseology in your article in the January/February issue, “Shale gas recovery—Engineering a big business,” when you chose to describe fracking as ‘politically controversial,’ while saying nothing about the practice’s known negative environmental consequences.

Most informed members of the public are aware that fracking has been repeatedly demonstrated to be an environmental hazard of unknown but potentially massive negative consequences, to aquifers, drinking water, even earthquakes, in spite of the fracking industry’s attempts to deny, minimize, or cover up these harmful consequences.