News Round Up: May 17, 2011

N

Today’s essential reads

FRACKING:

Fracking Tied to Tainted Water

A natural gas production technique has been linked to the contamination of drinking water, according to a report released by the National Academy of Sciences. The study, conducted by scientists at Duke University, showed potentially harmful levels of methane in drinking water near drilling sites in Pennsylvania and New York associated with the process of hydraulic-fracturing, or fracking.

The Fight Over Fracking: Josh Fox vs. Big Gas

The Oscar-nominated filmmaker exposed the dirty secrets of gas drilling. Then the industry decided to play rough.

Gas Industry Eager to Drill

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has a message for the natural gas industry whose representatives were in Albany May 10 to lobby for drilling in the Marcellus Shale deposit: Be patient.

BP OIL SPILL:

Government’s Deference to Oil and Gas Industry Knows No Bounds

It’s never enough for the oil and gas industry. They want it all and they want it now.

Exposing the Human Side of BP’s Oil Spill

Many of the chemicals present in BP oil and dispersants are known to cause headaches, nausea, vomiting, kidney damage, altered renal function, and irritation of the digestive tract.

Halliburton Engineer Won’t Testify in Oil Spill Suit

A Halliburton Co. engineer who said he warned BP Plc of the risk of a natural-gas surge before the Macondo well blew up has declined to testify in litigation over the incident, Transocean Ltd. said today.

“The Big Fix” Gulf Oil Spill Documentarian Braces for Backlash

“The Big Fix,” a documentary which claims to blow the lid off the “massive cover up” surrounding last year’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill is set to generate a storm of controversy at its world premiere in Cannes Tuesday.

JAPAN NUCLEAR CRISIS:

Two Other Nuclear Reactors Suffer Serious Damage

Substantial damage to the fuel cores at two additional reactors of Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex has taken place, operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Sunday, further complicating the already daunting task of bringing them to a safe shutdown while avoiding the release of high levels of radioactivity. The revelation followed an acknowledgment on Thursday that a similar meltdown of the core took place at unit No. 1.

Fukushima Disaster Deepens U.S. Turmoil Over Nuclear Waste Storage

Japan’s nuclear disaster and the abandoned Yucca Mountain repository are combining to create a more complex puzzle for U.S. policymakers wrestling with the future of nuclear power in the United States.

Add comment

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

Follow Us

© Stuart H Smith, LLC
Share This