Some of the poorest counties in Texas are getting a big financial boost from drilling projects in southern Texas.

The boom in development stems from increased use of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or fracking -- the process of blasting sand, water and chemicals into the ground at high pressures to extract previously inaccessible pockets of oil and gas. In opposing the boom, environmental groups have cited potential air quality issues and groundwater pollution associated with the drilling process.

The sudden uptick in well-paid field jobs in southern Texas, near the giant Eagle Ford Shale oil and gas formation south and east of San Antonio, is contributing to the burgeoning local economies. Average per-capita incomes in counties with Eagle Ford Shale wells permitted or in production jumped 13.6 percent between 2008 and 2011, according to data from the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Per-capita income rose just 1.3 percent in Texas as a whole during the same period, which included the recent recession.

Signs of the Eagle Ford boom were everywhere in regions affected by drilling, from a preponderance of "help wanted" signs to crowded hospitality and service markets.

Chris Kemp, hospitality manager for Cotton Logistics, a Katy, Texas-based company that provides worker housing throughout the shale play, said even food service jobs offered as much as $15 an hour.

"This is an opportunity that didn't exist before, and it's open to everyone," he said.

Kemp was unemployed for a year and a half before finding work at Cotton Logistics, so he thanks activity around the Eagle Ford for his new career. "It's another job that wasn't here before," he said.

But for people working on fixed salaries or in fields outside the energy industry, the recent boom has driven up prices and caused financial stress, with rents running nearly double what they were three years ago.

"Their income is not changing -- it's a burden on them," said LaSalle County Judge Joel Rodriguez Jr. "It's a burden to be in a rental home" (Hiller/Yerardi, Fuel Fix, Jan. 12). -- BS