Environmental Must-Reads – September 25, 2014

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Fort Collins appealing to keep fracking ban

Fort Collins City Council voted Tuesday to appeal last month’s overturning of the city’s five-year moratorium on hydraulic fracturing.

On Aug. 7, 8th Judicial District Judge Gregory M. Lammons overturned the citizen-initiated and voter-supported moratorium, with the court declaring it violated an act passed in 1951 that declares oil and gas activity a state priority in Colorado.

Denton voters to consider state’s first ban on fracking

Denton residents, concerned about air quality, noise and potential water contamination, may be the first in Texas to ban hydraulic fracturing — but if they do, state lawmakers will probably push back.

Residents leading the effort call the proposed ban on the November ballot a last resort after years of negotiating for restrictions they say were ultimately trumped by state law.

Fracking debate lands at Monterey County Board of Supervisors

A debate over the controversial hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, oil extraction technique was on full display at Tuesday’s Monterey County Board of Supervisors meeting.

During a 3 1/2-hour workshop on developing state regulations and a proposed two-year moratorium on the procedure in Monterey County, more than 40 people spoke out on the issue.

Fracking opponents hopeful of pause on shale gas development in New Brunswick

The Liberal victory in New Brunswick will provide a needed break in the development of the shale gas industry, say opponents of hydraulic fracturing who vowed to hold the party to its promise to impose a moratorium on the disputed practice.

Lois Corbett of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick said Liberal Leader Brian Gallant’s win in Monday’s provincial election will give politicians and experts time to study fracking while slowing growth of the shale gas sector.

Switch to Natural Gas Won’t Reduce Carbon Emissions Much, Study Finds

Switching from coal to natural gas for power generation won’t do much to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and might even raise them slightly, in part because it will discourage the use of carbon-free renewable energy, according to a study released Wednesday.

Hunters Take a Hit to Preserve Sage Grouse

Ken Jafek, a hunting guide from Idaho, has been chasing greater sage grouse for roughly half of his 79 years.

But with federal officials weighing whether to protect the chicken-like bird under the Endangered Species Act, Mr. Jafek is dialing back his hunting to just one kill during Idaho’s annual seven-day hunt, which started Saturday.

“One is enough,” he said. “I don’t want to see them listed.”

Companies in Bakken Shale Fight Limits on Oil Trains

Executives from the top oil companies in the Bakken Shale told state regulators that their crude is safe to transport by train, opposing possible requirements that they make the oil less volatile before shipping it.

The industry pushback comes as North Dakota considers new rules on treating crude to stabilize it, spurred by growing public concern about the safety of oil-laden trains crisscrossing the country. Several oil trains have derailed and produced fireballs since 2013.

Fracking – gas industry wants final word on word

The Marcellus Shale industry is trying to reclaim a word that has become one of the most effective weapons of natural gas foes: Fracking.

The Marcellus Shale Coalition, which opened its annual conference Wednesday in Pittsburgh, is launching a campaign aimed at countering the negative connotations associated with fracking, the term derived from the gas-extraction technique of hydraulic fracturing, which has become a catchall pejorative among activists for all aspects of drilling.

Colo. fracking panel meeting for first time

A commission assembled by Gov. John Hickenlooper to study land-use clashes between Colorado’s energy industry and homeowners will meet for the first time.

The 21-member panel is charged with issuing recommendations to lawmakers next year on how to deal with conflicts arising from hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking.

Treating fracking wastewater results in new unsafe compounds

A new study suggests fracking wastewater can endanger drinking water even after it has passed through treatment plants and been diluted.

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is the process by which natural gas is extracted from shale deposits by blasting the underground rock with highly pressurized water mixed with chemicals. At the end of the process, drillers are left with tanks full of natural gas; but they’re also left with highly radioactive wastewater laden with heavy metals and with halide salts like bromide, chloride and iodide.

Federal judge delays ruling on BP oil spill medical claims

A federal judge on Wednesday (Sept. 24) put off a ruling on an interpretation of the BP oil spill medical settlement that could delay or cut payments to thousands of cleanup workers.

At dispute is when cleanup workers who experienced specific ailments while working during the spill — including breathing problems, skin rashes and eye damage — were required to get diagnosed with a problem in order to qualify for payment.

Judge Denies BP’s Request to Recoup Overpayments to Oil Spill Victims

The oil giant BP cannot recoup hundreds of millions of dollars it claims to have overpaid victims of a 2010 Gulf Coast oil spill, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

At a hearing in Federal District Court in New Orleans, Judge Carl J. Barbier rejected BP’s request that it be allowed to claw back the extra money paid out under an old accounting method.

Federal judge delays ruling on BP oil spill medical claims

A federal judge on Wednesday (Sept. 24) put off a ruling on an interpretation of the BP oil spill medical settlement that could delay or cut payments to thousands of cleanup workers.

At dispute is when cleanup workers who experienced specific ailments while working during the spill — including breathing problems, skin rashes and eye damage — were required to get diagnosed with a problem in order to qualify for payment.

Businesses won’t have to return BP spill payouts

BP wants its money back — hundreds of millions of dollars of it — but a federal judge said Wednesday that the oil giant must stand by the agreement it made with the companies it compensated for losses blamed on the 2010 Gulf oil spill.

BP argued that a flawed funding formula enabled nearly 800 businesses to overestimate their spill-related claims.

The Gulf’s Red Snapper Fishery Makes a Comeback

The 51-foot Chelsea Ann carves through dark Gulf waters on a brisk March evening. It’s a full day’s journey out to Captain William “Bubba” Cochrane’s fishing spots 70 miles offshore, where the boat’s crew of five will prowl for red snapper. Bubba, 44, and four deckhands left from Katie’s Seafood Market on Galveston’s Pier 19 at noon, and by now the sunlight is all but gone.

Some of the crew is inside the wheelhouse, eating dinner and resting up, but Garrett King is out on the bow preparing for the morning’s early rise. “Just getting ready to do battle,” he says, the lit stub of a cigarette between his lips, shoveling crushed ice into large coolers.

North Idaho Counties Plan For Oil Spills As Rail Traffic Increases

Three northern Idaho counties are creating strategies for containing an oil spill as more oil is moving through the inland Northwest on trains.

Trains carry crude oil from North Dakota across the Idaho Panhandle at least twice a day. They run along lakes and rivers, and sometimes cross right over the water.

Sandpiper oil pipeline project at risk, pipe-fitting union official says

An official of the union representing workers who hope to help build an oil pipeline through northern Minnesota is raising alarms over regulatory delays.

David Barnett, a special representative to the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe-Fitting Industry, said Wednesday a recent decision by a Minnesota regulatory board to look into alternate routes could put Enbridge’s Sandpiper pipeline in jeopardy.

Arctic oil explorers seek leeway in new federal drilling rules

Oil companies hoping to find crude under Arctic waters north of Alaska are asking the Obama administration to ensure new rules governing drilling in the region don’t force them to stash emergency equipment nearby nor block use of chemical dispersants to clean up any spills.

The pleas for flexibility were delivered by Shell Oil Co. and ConocoPhillips in private meetings earlier this month with the Office of Management and Budget, which is reviewing an Interior Department proposal that would set standards governing oil development in the remote Arctic frontier.

Inside Big Oil’s Fight Over Arctic Drilling Rules

Oil giants Royal Dutch Shell and ConocoPhillips are pressing White House officials on upcoming standards for drilling operations in Arctic seas.

In a document given to White House and Interior Department officials at a recent meeting, Shell lays out concerns that Interior’s rules will impose mandates that add billions of dollars in costs but do not enhance environmental safeguards.

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Stuart H. Smith is an attorney based in New Orleans fighting major oil companies and other polluters.
Cooper Law Firm

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