University of Tennessee to allow fracking in school’s forest

The New York Times has reported that the University of Tennessee plans to let a private company drill for natural gas on university land in order to spark economic and academic gain.

The contract, which is currently up for bidding, will allow a company to start fracking for natural gas in the Cumberland Forest—an 8,000-acre tract of university-owned land.

Besides having the potential to bring substantial amounts of money, the university will use the drilling as an academic opportunity to study its effects on water and air quality, wildlife and geology.

The opening of university land to fracking has drawn protests from environmentalists who feel that the drilling has the potential to taint the environment and pollute the water supply.