EPA Officials Visit Texas’ Barnett Shale, Ground Zero of the Fracking Boom

By Dylan Baddour

ARLINGTON, Texas—The Barnett Shale, rich in natural gas, lies inconveniently beneath sprawling suburbs of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The fracking boom began here almost 20 years ago, leaving in its wake a mixture of wells and compressors in close proximity to residential neighborhoods and strips of shopping centers.