Fracking, as established by earlier articles, has been around commercially since at least the 1940's. So why the controversy? This article by the Independent online explains part of the issue:
http://www.iol.co.za/business/companies/shell-cites-history-to-allay-karoo-fears-1.1063899
As the article explains, while fracking has been around for some time, there are some major new developments with fracking. Recently, there's been a move toward using synthetic liquids formed from natural gas to help with the extraction of gas, and in some cases the synthetic liquids are gelled by using additional chemicals. This goes significantly beyond the early sorts of fracking.
