If you let them frack your land and an accidental spill, blowout or brine pond leak damages your property or poisons your livestock, don’t go crying to the insurance company. An internal memo at Nationwide Mutual Insurance details the findings of its research into hydrofracking and concludes that its policies cannot cover risks associated with fracking.
[Story in the Daily Freeman of Hudson Valley]
The Nationwide memo reads: “After months of research and discussion, we have determined that the exposures presented by hydraulic fracturing are too great to ignore. Risks involved with hydraulic fracturing are now prohibited for General Liability, Commercial Auto, Motor Truck Cargo, Auto Physical Damage and Public Auto (insurance) coverage.”

Take that news, along with the fact that many banks will not give you a mortgage if you have a drilling lease, along with the liability you accept by allowing drilling on your land, and fracking seems less like a goldmine and more like hole drilled directly to hell.