Abrahm Lustgarten
Reporter
Featured Story
Natural Gas Drilling: What We Don’t Know
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - December 31, 2009 2:48 pm EST
It takes brute force to wrest natural gas from the earth. Millions of gallons of chemical-laden water mixed with sand -- under enough pressure to peel paint from a car -- are pumped into the ground, pulverizing a layer of rock that holds billions of small bubbles of gas.
The chemicals transform the fluid into a frictionless mass that works its way deep into the earth, prying open tiny cracks that can extend thousands of feet. The particles of sand or silicon wedge inside those cracks, holding the earth open just enough … more…
Read MoreState Oil and Gas Regulators Are Spread Too Thin to Do Their Jobs
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - December 30, 2009 12:38 pm EST
In New Gas Wells, More Drilling Chemicals Remain Underground
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - December 27, 2009 8:12 am EST
New York City Calls for Drilling Ban in Watershed, Rejects State Study
by Joaquin Sapien and Abrahm Lustgarten and Christopher Flavelle, ProPublica - December 24, 2009 3:47 pm EST
Colorado Towns Take Extra Measures to Protect Their Water From Gas Drilling
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - December 15, 2009 4:08 pm EST
Underused Drilling Practices Could Avoid Pollution
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - December 14, 2009 12:00 am EST
Pa. Residents Sue Gas Driller for Contamination, Health Concerns
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - November 20, 2009 10:00 am EST
Congress Tells EPA to Study Hydraulic Fracturing
by Abrahm Lustgarten and Sabrina Shankman, ProPublica - November 10, 2009 3:18 pm EST
Is New York’s Marcellus Shale Too Hot to Handle?
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - November 9, 2009 5:10 am EST
Interactive Map: Wastewater Samples From Gas Wells Test Positive for Radioactivity
by Krista Kjellman Schmidt and Abrahm Lustgarten and Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - November 9, 2009 4:00 am EST
New York City Hints at Anti-Drilling Stance
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - October 23, 2009 3:33 pm EST
New York Drilling Study a Step Forward
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - October 22, 2009 11:00 pm EST
Gas Drilling Vs. Drinking Water: New York City Consultant’s Report Sets Stage for Fight With Albany
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - October 7, 2009 11:11 pm EST
Gas Execs Call for Disclosure of Chemicals Used in Hydraulic Fracturing
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - October 2, 2009 1:58 pm EST
New York State Paves Way for Gas Drilling With Release of Environmental Review
by Abrahm Lustgarten, Joaquin Sapien, and Sabrina Shankman, ProPublica - September 30, 2009 7:57 pm EST
Pennsylvania Orders Cabot Oil and Gas to Stop Fracturing in Troubled County
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - September 25, 2009 12:39 pm EST
DEP Issues Citation to Pennsylvania Driller as a Third Spill Occurs
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - September 23, 2009 12:13 pm EST
Frack Fluid Spill in Dimock Contaminates Stream, Killing Fish
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - September 21, 2009 4:09 pm EST
EPA: Chemicals Found in Wyo. Drinking Water Might Be From Fracking
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - August 25, 2009 12:36 pm EST
More Gas Contamination Affects Pennsylvania Residents
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - August 4, 2009 1:45 pm EST
Water Problems From Drilling Are More Frequent Than PA Officials Said
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - July 31, 2009 11:29 am EST
Inhofe Defends Hydraulic Fracturing on Senate Floor
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - July 29, 2009 10:56 am EST
Salazar Calls ‘Time Out’ on Grand Canyon Uranium Mining
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - July 20, 2009 3:27 pm EST
Natural Gas Advocate Takes Gas Industry to Task
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - July 16, 2009 3:19 pm EST
Democrats Call for Studies as Industry Assails Proposals to Regulate Hydraulic Fracturing
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - July 13, 2009 8:00 pm EST
Lax Laws Often Govern Waste Pits
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - July 8, 2009 4:55 am EST
Map: Number of Producing Gas Wells
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - July 8, 2009 4:55 am EST
Energy Industry Sways Congress With Misleading Data
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - July 8, 2009 4:55 am EST
Chart: Where States Fall on Oil and Gas Regulation
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - July 8, 2009 4:55 am EST
The Story So Far: Gas Drilling’s Environmental Threat
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - July 6, 2009 3:59 pm EST
FRAC Act—Congress Introduces Twin Bills to Control Drilling and Protect Drinking Water
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - June 9, 2009 12:31 pm EST
New York State Drilling Bill Would Override State Regulators to Protect Water
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - June 8, 2009 11:18 am EST
Industry Defends Federal Loophole for Drilling Before Packed Congressional Hearing
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - June 5, 2009 12:05 pm EST
Natural Gas Drilling Debate Heats Up
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - June 3, 2009 3:26 pm EST
Natural Gas Politics
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - May 26, 2009 8:14 am EST
16 Cattle Drop Dead Near Mysterious Fluid at Gas Drilling Site
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - April 30, 2009 3:00 pm EST
Officials in Three States Pin Water Woes on Gas Drilling
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - April 26, 2009 7:00 am EST
Colorado Study Links Methane in Water to Drilling
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - April 22, 2009 6:00 am EST
Clean Natural Gas? Not in My Backyard
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - February 27, 2009 12:52 pm EST
Bids Come in Low for AIG’s Insurance Jewel
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - February 25, 2009 3:10 pm EST
Gas Drilling Update: An Industry Setback in Utah, Plus an Overview From FLYP Media
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - January 21, 2009 3:49 pm EST
Setting the Record Straight on Hydraulic Fracturing
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - January 12, 2009 6:16 pm EST
Where Things Stand: Environmental Pitfalls of Drilling for Natural Gas in the U.S.
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - December 29, 2008 1:18 pm EST
Congress to Obama: Undo Bush’s Natural Gas Record
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - December 23, 2008 11:33 am EST
How the West’s Energy Boom Could Threaten Drinking Water for 1 in 12 Americans
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica and David Hasemyer, The San Diego Union-Tribune - - December 21, 2008 11:23 am EST
NYC: Gas Drilling Will Raise the Cost of Water by 30 Percent
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - December 16, 2008 12:21 pm EST
Rushed Interior Dept. Rule Overrides Congress; Allows Uranium Mining Near Grand Canyon
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - December 5, 2008 11:37 am EST
NYC Wants Consultants to Probe Effect of Gas Drilling on Drinking Water
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - November 25, 2008 11:50 am EST
New Mexico Battles Feds to Stop Gas Drilling Near an Aquifer
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - November 20, 2008 10:15 am EST
Slideshow: Wyoming’s Natural Gas Fields
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - November 17, 2008 11:24 am EST
A Reporter’s Journey Through the Gas Fields
- November 14, 2008 4:30 pm EST
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Abrahm Lustgarten is a former staff writer and contributor for Fortune, and has written for Salon, Esquire, the Washington Post and the New York Times since receiving his master's in journalism from Columbia University in 2003. He is the author of the book China’s Great Train: Beijing’s Drive West and the Campaign to Remake Tibet, a project that was funded in part by a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
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