Today’s Essential Reads
FRACKING:
What 133 Tons Of Chemicals Look Like On The Front Lawn Of A Fracking Town
If you’ve read our “What’s In My Frack Fluid” article, posted by David last week, you were probably disturbed to find out how much of the ingredients used in a typical hydraulic fracturing operation are unknown.
Cuomo Weighs Letting Towns Decide Fracking
A hydraulic fracturing drill rig near Tunkhannock, Pa. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo might turn over authority to approve fracking to local communities his state’s Southern Tier region.
Cuomo Said to Want to Limit Fracking to 5 New York Counties
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is considering a plan that would allow natural-gas drilling by hydraulic fracturing in five counties near the Pennsylvania border, an administration official said.
Fracking Bill Headed to House Floor
Elizabeth Outz, State Director for Environment NC, was one of the representatives from environmental groups waiting to see if the bill would hit the floor Wednesday afternoon.
BP OIL SPILL:
Italy Hails ‘The Big Fix’ for Exposing Gulf of Mexico Oil Crimes
Filmmakers Josh and Rebecca Tickell triumphantly returned home Sunday night from Torino after the Cinemambiente International Documentary Film Competition jury awarded them the Feature Film Best Documentary Award and 5000 euros for their movie The Big Fix that exposes unprecedented human and environmental rights violations involved in the ongoing catastrophe caused by BP’s negligence in the Gulf of Mexico operation.
Coastal Zone Changes Implemented
Louisiana’s official coastal zone, first created in 1972 to map the areas impacted most by the Gulf of Mexico, underwent a major change over the weekend and now includes all of Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes.
NIEHS Renews Study Call for Gulf Oil Spill Workers; Residents Still Waiting for Services
When an explosion on the BP-operated drilling rig Deepwater Horizon caused what would be the worst oil spill in U.S. history, Glenda Perryman’s friends and neighbors answered the call for clean-up workers.
New Orleans Civic Leaders Urge Publisher to Keep Times-Picayune a Daily
New Orleans business and community leaders are pressing the publisher of their city’s only daily newspaper to reverse its decision to reduce print publication to three days a week.
RADIATION:
Fukushima Watch: Applying the Lessons of Fukushima By the Numbers
In Kansai Electric Power Co.’s final report on two soon-to-be-restarted reactors at its Oi nuclear plant in western Japan, the utility assured the government and the public that the pair could withstand a disaster like the one that crippled Fukushima Daiichi last year. Specifically, Oi’s No. 3 and 4 reactors could survive a tsunami of up to 11.4 meters, Kansai Electric said.