Original sentence: Hydraulic fracturing is highly controversial; whereas its proponents advocate the economic benefits of  more extensively accessible hydrocarbons, its environmental impacts include the risks of contaminating ground water, depleting fresh water, degrading air quality, potentially triggering earthquakes, noise pollution, surface pollution, and the consequential hazards to public health and the environment
Edited sentence: Although hydraulic fracturing is technically only a well-stimulation technique, the term is commonly used by the general public as an umbrella term to refer to a range of activities associated with modern oil and gas development, such as drilling, extraction, and other aspects of production and processing.Modern uses of hydraulic fracturing are highly controversial, which is why the technique has only recently gained widespread notoriety despite having been in existence for over 60 years.Most research suggests that activities associated with hydraulic fracturing, rather than the well-stimulation event itself, are more likely associated with environmental impacts.This includes, but is not limited to, well-casing failure, wastewater disposal, leaks and spills, and air pollutant emissions from ancillary infrastructure and transportation.Various uses of the term to refer to either just the well stimulation itself or also the associated operations have generated miscommunication among the media, industry, scientific community, and general public.Whereas its proponents advocate the economic benefits of  more extensively accessible hydrocarbons, its environmental impacts include the risks of contaminating ground water, depleting fresh water, degrading air quality, potentially triggering earthquakes, noise pollution, surface pollution, and the consequential hazards to public health and the environment.While hydraulic fracturing has been employed for decades, only relatively recently has it been combined with other technologies such as directional drilling and high-volume “slickwater” hydraulic fracturing to access oil and natural gas from shale and other unconventional reservoirs at a commercial scale