Digging up controversy

This week, our stories have to do with two different controversies surrounding going underground.: a new quarry, and "fracking."

In mid-November, the Missouri Land Reclamation Commission denied Belle, Missouri residents a formal hearing in regards to a limestone quarry being built in their town. KBIA’s Sydney Miller tells how one resident wants to highlight the difficulties rural communities face when fighting Commission decisions.

Hydraulic fracturing - or “fracking” - is spurring a boom in oil and natural gas exploration across the U.S. But it’s not a new idea. The first recorded fracking in the country actually happened in southwest Kansas in 1947. That involved vertical fracking, a drill-down technique that’s helped make Kansas the 8th largest oil and gas producing state. Now, Harvest Public Media’s Eric Durban reports that after finding success and controversy in other states, horizontal fracking is bringing a new angle to the oil and gas business in Kansas.