News Round-Up: September 12, 2012

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Today’s Essential Reads

FRACKING:

West Virginia Gas Drilling Opponents Call For Halt To New Development

West Virginia environmental groups are calling for a moratorium on new drilling for natural gas.

Musings: Battle Over Fracturing In New York State Is Ramping Up

The prolific Marcellus shale formation that blankets Pennsylvania, West Virginia and the eastern portion of Ohio also extends into western and southern areas of New York State. In response to a strong and vocal environmental movement in these regions, New York instituted a moratorium against the use of hydraulic fracturing to tap the potential hydrocarbon resources deposited in these areas. One major political issue was concern about potential contamination of drinking water sources that supply New York City, so the area surrounding the water reservoirs was ruled off-limits for any drilling or fracturing. That ban did little to end the anti-fracturing opposition in the region located along the northern border of Pennsylvania, especially the liberal hotbed of Ithaca at the tip of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of the state.

Anti-Fracking Group Threatens Ballot Measure

Residents of the region who oppose using hydraulic fracturing in oil and gas drilling say they will try to mount a ballot measure to ban fracking within the city limits of Colorado Springs.

Wyo. Gov. to Interior: Back Off on Fracking Rules

Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead is telling the Interior Department to back off on proposed rules for hydraulic fracturing, the controversial technique that boosts the productivity of oil and gas wells.

BP OIL SPILL:

Renewed Call for BP to Address Off-Shore Tar Mats

BP oil continues to wash up on Baldwin County beaches in the form of tar balls and a lot of it since hurricane Isaac.

BP Oil Attempts Beach Cleanup After Hurricane Isaac, Asks Permission To ‘Deep Clean’

BP PLC says it wants to aggressively clean up buried oil exposed on Louisiana’s beaches by Hurricane Isaac’s churning waves.

BP Proposes Deep Cleaning of Louisiana Beaches in Aftermath of Hurricane Isaac

BP wants to “deep clean” the sand on beaches along the Louisiana coastline where tar balls and tar mats from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico were uncovered by Hurricane Isaac, BP Gulf Coast Restoration Organization President Mike Utsler said Tuesday. Utsler said the uncovering of tar by Isaac’s eroding winds, surge and wave provides the company with an opportunity to target cleaning at areas with oil from its Macondo well before sand is redeposited by new storms. And removal of the contaminants will reduce future complaints, he said.

BP Spill Victims Claim Gulf Hurricane Undermines Accord

BP Plc (BP/)’s proposed $7.8 billion partial settlement of 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil-spill claims shouldn’t be approved because last month’s hurricane shows how the extent of the spill’s damage still isn’t known, a victim’s lawyer said.

RADIATION:

Disaster-Area Kids Under Hard Stress

The emotional scars of children living in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, which were the hardest hit by the March 2011 disasters, have not yet healed and many are burdened by trauma and mental stress.

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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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