THREAD—Indigenous Mapuche pay high price for Argentina's fracking dream; Community feels devastating environmental impact on land where their animals grazed theguardian.com/environment/20…
"The roar of the burning gas well could be heard almost a mile and a half away, from atop the high plateau where Albino Campo Maripe stood, looking down at the orange flames lapping the earth in the distance. 
"When he was a child, the 60-year-old Mapuche chief used to ride there bareback. Those days are gone for ever. The once-pristine landscape is now dotted with fracking wells and the white patches of land cleared for even more.
"The ancient and spectacular rock formations of Neuquén province in Argentina’s Patagonia region are a paleontologist’s dream, rich with dinosaur fossils.
"But the image quickly fades to the sight and sound of the fracking well that exploded on 14 September and burned continuously for 24 days, spewing hot gas and other elements into the air from nearly two miles below ground.
"The raging fire was finally put out on Monday by a team of experts who flew from Houston with 56 tons of special equipment. 'This shouldn’t be happening,' Campo Maripe said, 'but these are the consequences of fracking.'
"Fracking accidents happen regularly in Vaca Muerta (Dead Cow in Spanish), one of the world’s largest shale oil and gas reservoirs. In 2018 alone, there were an estimated 934 incidents at 95 wells."
