Abrahm Lustgarten Views
The National Press Foundation has awarded the 2009 Stokes Award for Best Energy Writing to ProPublica reporters Abrahm Lustgarten and Joaquin Sapien for their masterful job of investigative reporting and writing about an increasingly popular method of natural gas drilling known as hydraulic fracturing. The work was showcased in ProPublica=’s print and online editions in a series that continued for much of 2009. The stories linked more than 1,000 cases of water contamination to places where hydraulic fracturing had taken place. It raised some of the first questions about whether the process, and the chemicals used, were the cause.
Abrahm Lustgarten is a reporter for ProPublica, the not-for-profit newsroom launched in 2008, and the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation grant for international reporting. A former contributing writer for Fortune magazine, his articles have also appeared in Esquire, The New York Times, Outside, Sports Illustrated, National Geographic Adventure, Salon, and many other publications. He lives in New York City.
Gas drilling companies such as Halliburton say the gas drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking,_" is safe, but opponents contend it pollutes groundwater with dangerous substances. Now, new evidence has emerged possibly linking natural gas drilling to groundwater contamination. ProPublica journalist Abrahm Lustgarten reports federal officials in Wyoming have found that at least three water wells contain chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing. [includes rush transcript]
Abrahm Lustgarten is a reporter for the nonprofit investigative journalism organization ProPublica. He has been covering the story of fracking and raising concerns about its effects on human health since 2008. He joins Jon Meacham to talk about the recent congressional report alleging that fracking may violate the Safe Drinking Water Act.
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