"US Insurer Won't Cover Gas Drill Fracking Exposure"

"Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. has become the first major insurance company to say it won't cover damage related to a gas drilling process that blasts chemical-laden water deep into the ground."

"The Columbus, Ohio-based company's personal and commercial policies 'were not designed to cover' risk from the drilling process, called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, Nationwide spokeswoman Nancy Smeltzer said Thursday.

The process injects chemically treated water into wells to fracture shale thousands of feet underground and release trapped gas or oil. There are rich shale deposits in parts of Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, West Virginia and elsewhere."

Mary Esch reports for the Associated Press July 13, 2012.