Before there was "fracking" Blowing an oil well in Pennsylvania.

They have been doing this in PA for more than a century with no apparent drinking water contamination.  Video at link has 30 second commercial then move to 20.0 minute mark.  Segment is two minutes to 22.0 mark.  Really cool to watch.  http://video.tvguide.com/How+The+States+Got+Their+Shapes/A+Boom+With+a+View/10292300?autoplay=true&partnerid=OVG

Glossary of terms:  Nitro well shooting definition.  http://oilgasglossary.com/nitro-shooting.html

Nitro shooting:

A formation-stimulation process first used about a hundred years ago in pennsylvania.nitroglycerine is placed in a well and exploded to fracture the rock. sand and gravel or cement is usually placed above the explosive charge to improve the efficiency of the shot.nitro shooting has been largely replaced by formation fracturing.

TERMS RELATED TO NITRO SHOOTING

• SHOT

  1. a charge of high explosive, usually nitroglycerine, detonated in a well to shatter the formation and expedite the recovery of oil. shooting has been ...

• SHOOT

  1. to explode nitroglycerine or other high explosives in a hole to shatter the rock and increase the flow of oil, now largely replaced by ...

• EXPLOSIVE FRACTURING

  When explosives are used to fracture a formation. at the moment of detonation, the explosion furnishes a source of high-pressure gas to force fluid into ...

• SHOT HOLE (COMPLETIONS)

  A wellbore where an explosive such as nitroglycerin has been exploded.

• FORMATION FRACTURING

  A method of stimulating production by opening new flow channels in the rock surrounding a production well. often call a frac job. under extremely high ...

• SHAPED CHARGE

  A relatively small container of high explosive that is loaded into a perforating gun. on detonation, the charge releases a small, high-velocity stream of particles ...

• HYDRAULIC FRACTURING

  An operation in which a specially blended liquid is pumped down a well and into a formation under pressure high enough to cause the formation ...