Political Report #1101, Fracking Expands in Latin America, Threatening to Contaminate World's Third-Largest Aquifer By Santiago Navarro F. and Renata Bessi, Truthout

Schlumberger employees work during an oil fracking process in Vaca Muerta in the Patagonian province of Neuquen, Argentina, September 20, 2013.   (Photo: Anibal Adrian Greco / The New York Times) By Santiago Navarro F. and Renata Bessi, Truthout

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking - a method whereby hydrocarbons trapped within rocks are extracted - is expanding rapidly in Latin America. Fracking emits benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene, which are considered by the World Health Organization to be carcinogenic and responsible for blood disorders and other immunological effects. Despite these adverse health effects, however, reserves have already been mapped out in Bolivia, Colombia, Venezuela, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. Fracking produces large volumes of toxic and radioactive waste and dangerous air pollutants.

Political Report # 1058 Fracking Expands Under the Radar on Mexican Lands By Emilio Godoy, Inter Press Service

A Pemex gas distribution terminal. Shale gas will account for an estimated 45 percent of Mexico's natural gas output by 2026. (Photo: Pemex)

Mexico City - "People don't know what 'fracking' is and there is little concern about the issue because it's not visible yet," said Gabino Vicente, a delegate of one of the municipalities in southern Mexico where exploration for unconventional gas is forging ahead. Vicente is a local representative of the community of Santa Úrsula in the municipality of San Juan Bautista Tuxtepec, some 450 km south of Mexico City in the state of Oaxaca, where - he told IPS - "fracking is sort of a hidden issue; there's a great lack of information about it." Tuxtepec, population 155,000, and another Oaxaca municipality, Loma Bonita, form part of the project Papaloapan B with seven municipalities in the neighbouring state of Veracruz. The shale gas and oil exploration project was launched by Mexico's state oil company, Pemex, in 2011. Papaloapan B, backed by the governmental National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH), covers 12,805 square kilometres and is seeking to tap into shale gas reserves estimated at between 166 and 379 billion barrels of oil equivalent. The project will involve 24 geological studies and the exploratory drilling of 120 wells, for a total investment of 680 million dollars.