Fracking

*Some weeks ago, I watched a documentary on fracking in America. This documentary was filmed in the state of Pennsylvania. It told the story of the inhabitants of some rural villages in this state who are against the activities of oil and gas companies near their properties. It’s said that fracking contaminates water wells, and also that this activity consumes huge amounts of water. In this documentary, some people stated that they can’t/couldn't use their water wells anymore because they were highly contaminated by gas and oil companies operating around them. These people don’t have drinking water connections, and now without being able to use their wells they have to buy bottled water. They also stated that they have contracted all kinds of diseases since these companies started to operate in their area. They used expressions like: “Oil companies have ruined my life”; “This is like a civil war”.
On the other hand, other people stated that fracking has been a blessing to their communities. Due to the money they have been getting from oil companies for **renting their properties to be drilled, they went from being poor farmers to wealthy farmers. They claimed that they have never had any health problems since these companies began to operate on their farms. Unlike the first interviewees, they said things like: “This is the American dream”, “This is a gift from God”, and “This is the best thing that has ever happened to me”. One of these interviewees even drank a glass of water taken from his water well in front of the camera, and stated that it was drinkable and harmless.
For the time being, there is no clear consensus on the impact of fracking impact. For example, this is not like talking about the sinking of an oil tanker, on which everybody agrees that it’s really bad and harmful. The effects of fracking are still unknown. If there are any harmful effects, we can’t notice them now, we might notice them in the future. Fracking has been in vogue for more than ten years, but until now there are many people who don’t know what fracking is.

*I would have used ''A few weeks ago'' But this only personal choice ''Some weeks ago'' is correct.

**It depends on what you want to say.

1. the money they have been getting from oil companies for renting their properties. = The companies were renting their houses, to live in.

2.the money they have been getting from oil companies for renting their properties land to be drilled on.

As always extremely well written. I agree with Jason Fehr, you write much better than most native English speakers that I know. Perfect.

Fracking

Some/A few weeks ago , I watched a documentary on fracking in America. This documentary was filmed in the state of Pennsylvania. It told the story of the inhabitants of some rural villages in this state who are against the activities of oil and gas companies near their properties. It’s said that fracking contaminates water wells, and also that this activity consumes huge amounts of water. In this documentary, Some people stated that they can’t use their water wells anymore because they were highly contaminated by gas and oil companies operating around them. These people don’t have drinking water connections, and now without being able to use their wells they have to buy bottled water. They also stated that they have contracted all kinds of diseases since these companies started to operate in their area. They used expressions like: “Oil companies have ruined my life”; “This is like a civil war”.
On the other hand, other people stated that fracking has been a blessing to their communities. Due to the money they have been getting from oil companies for renting their properties to be drilled, they went from being broke/poor farmers to wealthy farmers. They claimed that they have never had any health problems since these companies began to operate on their farms. Unlike the first interviewees, they said things like: “This is the American dream”, “This is a gift from God”, and “This is the best thing that has ever happened to me”. One of these interviewees even drank a glass of water taken from his water well in front of the camera, and stated that it was drinkable and harmless.
For the time being, there is no clear consensus on fracking’s impact the impact of fracking. For example, this is not like talking about the sinking of an oil tanker, on which everybody agrees is that it’s really bad and harmful. The effects of fracking are still unknown. If there are any harmful effects, we can’t notice them now, we might notice them in the future. Fracking has been in vogue for more than ten years, but until now there are many people who don’t know what fracking is.