Radioactive Cows And Methane Tap Water Spark Fracking Debate Amid Pennsylvania Gas Boom (VIDEO)

Flaming methane-filled tap water and radioactive cows? That may only be the tip of the iceberg.

"Fracking" has become a dirty word in the mouths of many residents who are experiencing hazardous and frightening ordeals like these, which they allege are directly related to the controversial natural gas drilling process hydraulic fracturing.

This video from Time takes a close look at residents in northeastern Pennsylvania, one of the many locales in America currently bustling due to the country's natural gas boom. The first-hand reports from people living near fracking sites are both tragic and cautionary.

But not everyone is upset with the craze. As local businesses grow exponentially from the gas boom, some residents are seeing nothing but prosperity. For those experiencing environmental and health consequences, however, there is no doubt in their minds that fracking isn't worth it, even if there remains no hard proof linking their plights to the drilling technique.

"It was heaven," Bonnie Burnett says of the home she had built with her husband in the Bradford County woods, where they planned to retire. But then in 2009, their pond and well water were seriously contaminated from a gas well spill. "It turned out to be hell."