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There is a nasty and ugly side to the oil and natural gas boom that the U.S. has enjoyed in recent years — a side that involves allegations of fraud, breach of contract and taking advantage of poor or unsophisticated landowners, among other things. This story is significant because these incidents are seldom reported, as the landowners, energy companies and other stakeholders have little to gain and a lot to lose by talking to journalists. But I managed to pull back the curtain on these little-known conflicts by piecing together court files and by interviewing key players, including a woman who could have been sued for “commercial defamation” for talking to me. Through these hard-to-get interviews and court documents, my story paints a colorful and sometimes disturbing portrait of the growing number of conflicts between landowners and the oil and natural gas companies that drill on their lands.