Stuart H. Smith » Susquehanna County

Jindal leaves the polluted waters of Louisiana to test the political waters in Iowa

admin — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 20:08:21 +0000

It's been a pretty stressful month down here in Louisiana. Folks in communities like Braithwaite over in Plaquemines Parish are still trying to dry out from Hurricane Isaac, which was the worst storm to batter these parts in the last four years, flooding about 13,000 homes, causing an estimated $1.5 billion in storm damage, and stirring up a ton of BP oil that's still out there in the Gulf. And we're still technically in the worst part of what's been a very active hurricane season. The State is also suffering from all the oil that washed up from Hurricane Issac and is awaiting a disaster from the Bayou Corne sinkhole where a massive salt cavern has been used to dispose of radioactive hazardous waste. So Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal instead of visiting with these victims, thinks this is a perfectly good time to test the waters elsewhere -- the political waters, that is, far from the balmy Gulf currents. According to the New York Times editorial board:

Two years ago, in what should have been a quiet judicial retention election, Iowa voters threw out three State Supreme Court justices for taking seriously their duty to protect fundamental rights. The three ...

The people know the truth: Fracking just isn’t safe

admin — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 12:45:58 +0000

This past week, the natural gas industry -- the people who've brought fracking to a community near you -- held a major convention in Philadelphia, not far from the Marcellus Shale region where some of the most frenetic drilling is taking place. Inside a gleaming convention center, the multi-millionaire CEOs of Big Gas and their political hand-puppets like the Republican governor of Pennsylvania, sought to reassure the world that fracking is a safe, clean way of producing not just cheap, clean energy for America but also good, plentiful jobs. But outside the hall, on the streets of Philadelphia, a different kind of confab was taking place. There were hundreds of folks from all over Pennsylvania and from upstate New York -- many came from as far as a couple hundred miles away, on their own hard-earned dime. These self-styled "fracktivists" were there not only to protest the Shale Gas Impact conference, but also to tell their own stories, of what it's really like to live near a fracking rig. For example:
Tammy Manning of Susquehanna County said the gases around her well recently tested at 82 percent methane. She said she was told to leave the water running all ...

“We’re drilling all over the place”: Why Americans have to protest fracking in the streets

admin — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 01:54:49 +0000

Remember when the election of Barack Obama was supposed to change everything on environmental policy? Some days that seems like it was a long time ago, doesn't it? To be sure, no administration could have been worse that George W. Bush's crew, which was filled with oil men who couldn't sign off fast enough on drilling from sea to shining sea -- and on a lot of federal lands in between. And indeed, there were hopeful signs of change in those first months after Obama became our 44th president. Consider the state of Utah, one of the many regions targeted by Big Energy in the current natural gas boom. The federal government is the biggest landowner in Utah, and in his final days in office, Bush 43 had raced to dole out lucrative leases to drillers all over the Beehive State, on 103,000 acres of prime real estate. The Obama administration initially undid those leases and also promised to tighten up relaxed environmental standards on many of the wells being drilled in Utah. But that was more than three years ago. Here is what's happening today in the U.S. Bureau of Land Mangement, the key agency tasked with regulating drilling on ...

Blinding us with pseudo-science: Tainted studies distort real fracking story

admin — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 14:19:53 +0000

When it comes to science, the big money folks behind Big Oil and Gas -- and their ideological buddies on the Far Right -- have two very different strategies. When confronted with the many, many studies showing that hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for natural gas has tainted groundwater, polluted the air, led to improper disposal of wastewater and possibly even caused earthquakes, the energy giants not only deny the results but denigrate the messenger. When that doesn't work, there's Plan B: Buy your own scientific findings. This is an alarming trend. Since the fracking boom took off several years ago, the big natural gas companies have spent millions of dollars hiring willing professors as consultants, or funding on-campus research centers. It seems that almost every time there's a much-heralded study that exonerates the industry of any harm, it turns out that the industry's checkbook is lurking in the background. Back in May, for example, I told you about a non-peer-reviewed study from the University of Buffalo -- much-promoted by industry, of course -- that claimed that violations from fracking rigs were minimal and on the decline. In fact, the exact opposite was true -- and the authors had received major funding from the oil-and-gas ...

Reason No. 317 to be alarmed about fracking: It’s hot outside!

admin — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 14:54:57 +0000

It was Bob Dylan who famously said that you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. In the summer of 2012, you don't need a weatherman to know it's hot out there. Heck, just open your front door. As someone who's lived in New Orleans my entire life, I've seen some of the worst that summer has to offer -- August nights when the streets of the French Quarter feel like a hot steaming bathtub. That said, it's shocking to look at a weather map and see 107 degrees in St. Louis or triple-digits in the Upper Northwest -- not to mention the heartbreaking wildfires burning through the Rocky Mountains. When you see such weather extremes, it's hard not think that the climatologists who've been warning us about man-made global warming are right on the money. It's not that we haven't seen heat waves before, but the higher record highs, taking place more often, have to what climate change would look like, right? Indeed, experts on the subject say evidence of global warming is exactly what we're seeing:
"This is what global warming looks like at the regional or personal level," said Jonathan Overpeck, professor ...

“The Sky Is Pink,” and how big oil and gas companies get to drill first, answer questions later

admin — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 18:18:24 +0000

I read a lot of environmental headlines every day, but this one really caught my eye. It said, "After six decades of fracking, regulation considered." The story was out of California, but its essence captured what's going on from New York to Oklahoma and beyond. From coast to coast, government officials are allowing the big oil and gas companies to drill first, while asking questions later...much later. As in this particular case:
In a remote Ventura County field, hydraulic fracturing has chipped away at underground rock, helping release more than 80 million barrels of oil since drilling began in the 1890s.

Above ground, three creeks snake from the adjacent Los Padres National Forest and overhead California condors fly, their protected refuge just behind the oil wells.

Now, some 60 years after hydraulic fracturing began at Sespe field in Fillmore, state officials are trying to decide whether to tighten rules on the “fracking” operation, as it is known, and dozens of others like it in the state.
I'd say that's unbelievable, except if you've followed the progress of the gas-drilling boom in this country over the last couple of years, it's actually not unbelievable at all. The experience in the ...

“The poison beneath us”: Big Oil’s toxic legacy grows to unthinkable proportions

admin — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 21:47:46 +0000

I became an environmental lawyer because of the reckless way that Big Oil has been treating the American landscape for decades. My first big case was launched more than 20 years ago, after we learned that companies like Chevron were dumping tons of radioactive pipe and wastewater across rural Mississippi -- used, even, to construct school playgrounds. I brought cases in small towns in rural Kentucky where Ashland Oil had poisoned the Lee aquifer with its careless pollution. I never stopped to add up just how much radioactive and toxic goo that the oil giants were throwing back into the land, whether it was in open unlined pits or higher-tech methods where the waste is injected deep into the earth. I just knew it was a lot. Now the investigative reporters at ProPublica have done the math:
Over the past several decades, U.S. industries have injected more than 30 trillion gallons of toxic liquid deep into the earth, using broad expanses of the nation's geology as an invisible dumping ground.

No company would be allowed to pour such dangerous chemicals into the rivers or onto the soil. But until recently, scientists and environmental officials have assumed that deep layers of rock ...

Mineral royalties fraud: A new legal frontier

admin — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 14:04:28 +0000

This week I saw a story out of New York State, where officials are in the process of debating whether to allow hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for natural gas in some areas whether thousands of acres have already been leased by the big gas companies. It turns out that thousands of property owners in upstate New York had leased their mineral rights to one of the nation's biggest gas companies, Chesapeake Energy, at rock-bottom prices a number of years ago. When state officials imposed a halt on drilling in 2008, the company unilaterally decided to freeze the leases and push back the expiration date. Meanwhile, the fracking boom in Marcellus Shale country had caused a steep rise in prices for new leases -- meaning that farmers and other landowners locked in at the old rate had been robbed of hundreds of thousands in dollars in additional income. The only way for these property owners to get any recourse was in the legal system. Finally, with help in this instance from the New York attorney general's office, some 4,400 landowners won a settlement that will allow them to renegotiate their deal with Chesapeake, the gas giant. With all the well-deserved publicity ...

New York’s Gov. Cuomo needs to learn that you can’t frack your way out of the economic crisis

admin — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 14:20:09 +0000

Your heart has to go out to the dairy farmers of upstate New York. They work long hours to bring staples of the American diet to your table every morning -- and yet it's just getting harder and harder for dairy farmers to make ends meet. While Wall Street may be booming, just a few hours to its northwest the economy remains in a shambles. Many residents of upstate New York's Southern Tier worry that they'll be forced to sell farms that have been in their family for generations. But New York's popular Democratic governor, Andrew Cuomo, thinks there's a way out for some of his struggling citizens: Drilling deep for natural gas underneath their picturesque rolling hillsides. As the wave of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, from shale beds pushes its way north -- after already sowing controversy and causing environmental harm in neighboring Pennsylvania -- a coalition of activists has fought hard to stop the same thing from happening in New York. The administration of Cuomo, who took office last year, has sent mixed signals on whether he might join Vermont as the second state in the Northeast to outlaw fracking. Instead, his aides leaked word this week to the New ...

Fracking for dollars: Articles about big paydays for mineral rights overlook environmental nightmares down the road

admin — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 18:25:20 +0000

Sometimes the most important part of a story is what it doesn't say. I was thinking that this week when I sat down to read another major story in the New York Times about hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for natural gas. It was headlined, "New Value for Land In Rural Ohio," and the story struck me as more than a little naive about "the energy boom" that was coming to these small towns dotting the American heartland, about the sudden fortunes falling upon working class folks who've struggled their whole lives until the day the magical day that a man from the gas company rang their door. I almost felt like I was reading an ad for the Publishers' Clearinghouse sweepstakes, or maybe the lottery, as the Times interviewed the lucky winners who sold off their mineral rights:
Arthur and Sharon Stottsberry, who are retired from inspector and clerk jobs with the State Department of Transportation, received $280,000 for the right to lease oil and gas reserves beneath their 70-acre farm. “It doesn’t seem real,” said Mrs. Stottsberry, 68. “We haven’t planned much about what to do. The most important thing is I want to make sure my ...

“Fresh, frizzy…fracked”: What else must fracked Wyoming homeowners do to get help?

admin — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 13:57:19 +0000

Meet Louis Meeks -- a longtime landowner outside the picturesque rural community of Pavillion, Wyoming. The rolling hillsides here have hosted natural gas wells for decades, but the pace of activity has increased in recent years with the growth of the drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. Something else has increased over the last couple of years -- nasty problems that Meeks blames on drilling. Meeks says his tap water now smells like diesel fuel. And his efforts to clean up his water supply over time have been to no avail. He won't let his granddaughter take baths or wash her clothes when she comes to his home. In frustration, Meeks finally printed up business cards that show a glass of tap water with the words "Fresh, fizzy...fracked." He wants them out to anyone and everyone who will listen. No, Louis Meeks is not imagining things. To the contrary, a draft report by scientists working for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, published in December, confirmed on paper what the residents in Pavillion already knew -- that groundwater here has been contaminated by hazardous chemicals that are linked to fracking and the production of natural gas. It was a very significant ...

“A New Right of Love”: A Pennsylvania Farmer’s Moving Anti-Fracking Eulogy To His Wife

admin — Wed, 23 May 2012 12:21:25 +0000

I've been reading a lot lately about everyday Americans getting fed up with fracking -- with the way that the big gas companies have been running roughshod over lush rolling hills and pristine farmland with their unsightly rigs, poisoning water supplies and polluting the air. But nothing has quite gotten to me like the simple words of a Pennsylvania farmer named Stephen Cleghorn. Cleghorn seems by all appearances to be a man who had a simple dream. Seven years ago, Cleghorn and his wife Lucinda Hart-Gonzalez moved to an idyllic corner of northwestern Pennsylvania. After a lifetime spent mostly working in the non-profit sector helping the homeless, Cleghorn and his wife -- a former college humanities teacher -- bought a 50-acre property amid the hills. They called it Paradise: Paradise Gardens & Farm. It is the only organic farm in a three-county area, the only goat dairy and creamery in the entire region. Very quickly, their community table became a source of fellowship -- and goat's milk -- to new neighbors and friends. But eventually, there would be trouble in Paradise. In 2009, the couple first learned that they lived atop the Marcellus Shale formation, a region that the natural-gas industry was coveting with its ...

Mystery Illness and Mystery Smells: The Neighbors of America’s Fracking Boom Need Answers

admin — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:41:28 +0000

Kay Allen is a nurse who deserves some answers. She works at a health clinic in Burgettstown, Pa. -- in the southwestern corner of the Keystone State where the rolling hills are now pockmarked with fracking wells in a natural-gas gold rush. In one sense, Allen and her co-workers at the Cornerstone Care community clinic are like a lot of health care professionals across the suddenly overwhelmed Marcellus Shale region of Appalachia: They've seen an increase in visit from anxious neighbors who are worried that symptoms such as increased headaches, dizziness, rashes, difficulty breathing, and various and sundry aches and pains might have something to do with these new wells, polluting the air that they breathe or the water that they drink. Lately, however, the medical worries of the fracking belt have really hit home for Allen and her co-workers. On a number of recent occasions, ghastly fumes -- the nurse compared it to a massive spill of nail-polish remover -- have overcome the waiting room at the rural clinic. On one occasion, Allen told a reporter for National Public Radio, the stench was so powerful that one of workers gagged and threw up; just when the office workers thought it was ...

A Timid First Step: Obama’s Proposed Fracking Rules Don’t Go Nearly Far Enough

admin — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:33:25 +0000

If there's anything we've learned in the last couple of years since the word "fracking" entered our lexicon, it's this: Natural gas drillers don't want you to know what they're up to. From the Oklahoma prairie to the forests of Pennsylvania, from the moment they get your name on a lease until the last tank of wastewater is dumped, these energy giants go to remarkable lengths to keep the public in the dark. In the heart of Marcellus Shale country in Pennsylvania, the drillers force property owners to sign non-disclosure agreements that's made it hard for residents to go public after they're learned that their well water's been polluted or that so much methane is seeping up from the fractured earth that they can light their faucet with a match. And recently it's gotten even worse: Pennsylvania actually enacted a law that muzzles doctors who treat patients who've been sickened by pollution from fracking. This gag-order rule means that doctors who learn information about potentially health-threatening chemicals that gas drillers are using in their community are strictly forbidden from sharing what they've learned with other doctors or with the general public. That's unbelievable. OK, actually it is believable when you realize ...

Drought Dangers: Frackers in Colorado Will Have Plenty of Water But Farmers May Go Without

admin — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 22:05:20 +0000

More upside down priorities from the western fracking front. In drought-struck Colorado, oil and gas companies will have plenty of water for their fracking operations this summer, but farmers may not have enough to irrigate their crops. It seems our insatiable thirst for fossil fuel is now even trumping our most basic need for food. Can you eat natural gas? Consider this from an April 2 Denver Post report by Bruce Finley: Front Range farmers bidding for water to grow crops through the coming hot summer and possible drought face new competition from oil and gas drillers. At Colorado's premier auction for unallocated water this spring, companies that provide water for hydraulic fracturing at well sites were top bidders on supplies once claimed exclusively by farmers. The prospect of tussling with energy industry giants over water leaves some farmers and environmentalists uneasy. "What impact to our environment and our agricultural heritage are Coloradans willing to stomach for drilling and fracking?" said Gary Wockner, director of the Save the Poudre Coalition, devoted to protecting the Cache la Poudre River. "Farm water grows crops, but it also often supports wildlife, wetlands and stream flows back to our rivers. Most drilling and fracking water is lost from the hydrological cycle ...

What Are They Hiding? “Gasland” Filmmaker Handcuffed, Escorted Out of Public Hearing on Fracking

admin — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:28:31 +0000

Why would House Republicans bar an Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker from last week's public hearing on hydraulic fracturing? Hmmmmmm. Could it be that they're hiding something? Nah, couldn't be – particularly in light of the fact that the filmmaker happened to be environmental crusader Josh Fox, whose film "Gasland" awoke America to the grave environmental and public health risks tied to fracking. It was an unfortunate episode nonetheless, adding yet another layer to the veil of secrecy surrounding the controversial natural gas extraction process known as fracking. Remember, we're talking about an industry that finds transparency so distasteful that it refuses to disclose the chemicals it injects deep into the ground to extract natural gas. At the behest of Maryland Republican Andy Harris, chairman of the House energy and environment subcommittee, Capitol Police handcuffed Mr. Fox and forcibly removed him from the hearing. The subcommittee was looking into an EPA study tying groundwater contamination to fracking. So why was Mr. Fox so rudely excluded from all the fun? Consider this from a Feb. 1 New York Times report by John Broder: Mr. Fox is preparing a sequel to “Gasland,” which has contributed to widespread concern about fracking, a method of mining that uses large ...

Feds Pave Way for Fracking Industry to Perpetrate Biggest Land Grab in U.S. History

admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:05:05 +0000

Officials from Central New York Oil & Gas recently informed landowner Bob Swartz that the company plans to cut "a 50-foot-wide, 400-foot-long gash through an ancient stand of trees" in his front yard to clear the way for a $250 million, 39-mile natural gas pipeline in the mountains of northern Pennsylvania. Not surprisingly, Mr. Swartz balked at the company's heavy-handed plan, recommending an alternate route for the pipeline out across an open field. Company officials promptly swatted aside Mr. Swartz's suggestion, and with brazen indifference, offered instead to pay him for the wood from the felled trees. "That's not negotiation. It was their way or no way, and 'we'll see you in court.' It's the little guys against Goliath," Swartz told the Associated Press. He is challenging the company in court, but faces a steep uphill battle because our federal government permits companies like Central New York Oil & Gas – under the auspices of the Natural Gas Act of 1938 – to assume control of private property for so-called "public benefit." I'll try to explain. Mr. Swartz is one of a growing number of victims falling prey to a new disturbing trend: The fracking industry's use of "eminent domain" to seize ...

Engineering Expert Calls Fracking a “Chillingly Effective and Thorough Method” of Poisoning Drinking Water

admin — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 14:29:49 +0000

Few people know fracking better than Paul Hetzler. He's an environmental engineering technician who for years worked for New York's Department for Environmental Conservation (DEC). Mr. Hetzler managed dozens of groundwater remediation projects in the 1990s. He's pored over "thousands of lab results from contaminated wells," and he's intimately familiar with the movement of contaminants through fractured rock formations. In an intensifying national debate brimming with so-called experts, by all accounts, Mr. Hetzler is the real deal – and he's speaking out about the dangers tied to the fastest growing sector of our new energy economy. In a recent "letter to the editor" published in the Watertown Daily News, he wrote: Hydraulic fracturing as it’s practiced today will contaminate our aquifers. Not might contaminate our aquifers. Hydraulic fracturing will contaminate New York’s aquifers. If you were looking for a way to poison the drinking water supply, here in the Northeast you couldn’t find a more chillingly effective and thorough method of doing so than with hydraulic fracturing. In addition to the poisoning of a water supply that reaches 15 million Americans, there will also be an economic price that will come out of all our pockets. More from Mr. Hetzler: When contamination occurs – and ...

Time Magazine Dubs Fracking America’s “Biggest Environmental Issue” of 2011

admin — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 21:19:39 +0000

Time Magazine got it right when it outed hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, as the biggest environmental concern our nation is facing as we head into the new year. Why fracking? The world's largest weekly news magazine, boasting a global circulation of 25 million, points to "the threats that shale gas drilling could pose to water supplies" and the fact that "natural gas produced by fracking may actually have a bigger greenhouse gas footprint than coal" – a revelation that undercuts the oft-heard claim that gas offers a "clean alternative" to other fossil fuels. The "cleaner" industry talking point flies in the face of a range of scientifically confirmed fracking-related impacts and by-products, such as increased greenhouse emissions, drinking water contamination, huge amounts of highly toxic wastewater and air pollution. Time Magazine clearly understands that as the fracking boom encroaches on more densely populated areas – with access roads being carved, wells being drilled and pipelines being laid – public health and safety issues become an increasing concern. For example, in Pennsylvania, experts estimate that fracking will ultimately impact more than two-thirds of the state. We should all find comfort in the fact that – despite a massive industry-funded public relations campaign and ...

Ohio Officials Halt Fracking Operations After “Suspicious” String of Earthquakes Hits Youngstown Area

admin — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 21:30:57 +0000

More evidence rumbled in over the holiday weekend tying fracking operations to earthquakes. The most recent and largest tremor – in a "suspicious" string of 11 – to hit the Youngstown area since last March measured 4.0 on the Richter scale. The epicenter, according to a Jan. 1 New York Times report, is "a well that has been used for the disposal of millions of gallons of brine and other waste liquids produced at natural-gas wells..." Nothing like ringing in the new year with a bang. The "collateral damage" tied to the controversial extraction process known as fracking includes contaminated groundwater, air pollution, exploding wells and flammable tap water – but all that (as troubling as it is) seems to pale a bit in comparison to earthquakes. Although up to this point the tremors in Ohio have caused little in the way of property damage or injuries to residents, earthquakes are an unpredictable phenomenon. You really never know when "the big one" will hit. Having said that, I'm happy to report that Ohio officials have taken the prudent step of halting operations in Youngstown until scientists are able to determine the definitive cause of the tremors. Smart move. Other fracking localities – where ...

The Drinking Water “Reeks of Chemicals”: EPA Ties Fracking to Severe Groundwater Pollution in Wyoming Town

admin — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 12:57:28 +0000

There's something very wrong with the water in Pavillion, Wyoming. It reeks of chemicals. Local health officials warned residents not to drink it after the EPA found pollution in their wells. Some residents have reported health problems – shortness of breath, nausea, itchy skin and rashes, headaches and dizziness – consistent with chemical poisoning. So what's causing all the trouble in this tiny ranching town? According to a bombshell EPA report released Thursday, the drinking water in Pavillion has been poisoned by fracking – the highly controversial natural gas extraction process that's ripping across rural America. The government report – the first to directly tie fracking operations to groundwater contamination – is sending shock waves through the oil and gas industry. The announcement could put the brakes on what has become the fastest-growing sector of the new energy economy. From a Dec. 8 Associated Press report: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday that fracking – a controversial method of improving the productivity of oil and gas wells – may be to blame for causing groundwater pollution. The draft finding could have a chilling effect in states trying to determine how to regulate the process. The practice is called hydraulic fracturing and involves pumping ...

Fallout from the Fracking Zone: Natural Gas Drillers Bury Toxic Sludge on Private Property – With Impunity

admin — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 12:19:54 +0000

As fracking operations are exploding across the country, so is the promise of big money – in royalties and bonuses – for property owners who allow gas companies to drill on their land. Think (in concept only) "Beverly Hillbillies," the 1960s TV sitcom featuring a backwoods family that moves to a lavish Beverly Hills mansion after striking oil in their backyard. It all worked out pretty well on TV, but for a growing number of real-life landowners in a growing number of states from New York to Colorado, the promise of quick, big payouts has ended in disaster. New York Times reporters Ian Urbina and Jo Craven McGinty shed light on this fallout from the fracking boom in a recent piece entitled "Learning Too Late of the Perils in Gas Well Leases": After Scott Ely and his father talked with salesmen from an energy company about signing the lease allowing gas drilling on their land in northeastern Pennsylvania, he said he felt certain it required the company to leave the property as good as new. So Mr. Ely said he was surprised several years later when the drilling company, Cabot Oil and Gas, informed them that rather than draining and hauling away the ...

Putting the Brakes on the Fracking Boom: Federal Panel Warns of “Excessive Environmental Impacts”

admin — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 15:15:15 +0000

A federal committee has formalized in a highly critical report what many of us have been shouting about for years: Fracking will cause "excessive" damage to the environment if steps aren't immediately taken to minimize its impacts. A little late to the party, but we appreciate the first truly candid federal assessment of a natural gas extraction process known to contaminate water supplies with human carcinogens, produce a rash of air-quality issues, and every now and then, cause residential drinking-water wells to explode. The federal advisory panel also issued a dramatic wake-up call, cautioning frackers that intensifying public concern and opposition could put the brakes on the fastest growing sector of our new energy economy. Here's to hoping the panel is right. From a Nov. 10 Associated Press report by Dina Cappiello: The seven-member committee said in a report released Thursday (Nov. 10) that progress by the federal government and the oil and gas industry on 20 recommendations it issued in August has been less than it hoped. It said if actions were not taken to avoid "excessive environmental impacts," a public outcry could delay or stop the gas drilling boom. Committee members stated that fracking in its current form and as it's currently ...

The Fracking of America: New Website Devoted Exclusively to Tracking Our Most Urgent Environmental Threat

admin — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 16:26:48 +0000

Fracking represents the most urgent environmental threat the United States has faced in 30 years. It's a threat that demands our attention and a robust national debate. An informed public is imperative as we – as a nation – grasp to strike a balance between our thirst for energy resources and the need to protect the environment and ensure public health and safety. To that end, we are launching a new website, "The Fracking of America" at www.FrackingofAmerica.com. Please visit us early and often as our aim is to help energize and organize opposition to an industrial practice we firmly believe presents risks that far outweigh the benefits. A major public policy battleground has emerged out of the "fracking bonanza" as local, state and federal officials try to plot regulatory courses, including moratoriums and outright bans. And we'll be keeping an eye on all of it with hard-hitting commentary and the most up-to-date news you need to stay informed about what's really happening inside America's highly controversial fracking boom. Just last week, a federal panel formalized in a report what many of us have been shouting about for months, even years: Fracking will cause "excessive" damage to the environment if steps aren't ...

Epic Contamination: Fracking Could Foul the Ancient Roman Hot Springs of Bath

admin — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 21:28:05 +0000

Julius Caesar is rolling over in his grave. Some 2,000 years ago, the Romans built a magnificent temple and bathing compound around Great Britain's only hot spring. To this day, the complex in the ancient city of Bath flows with natural, steamy waters known around the world for their health benefits and powerful healing qualities. During the heady days of the Roman Empire, it was said Caesar himself made the water that bubbles up from these celebrated springs. Photo credit to Bath Tourism Plus/Colin Hawkins Although it didn't end well for Julius Caesar who was assassinated by his friend Marcus Brutus (and Rome eventually fell to a persistent group of warring Germanic tribes), the Roman temple and its healing pools in Bath have survived for two millennia. But fracking may end that epic run. In a story that is triggering outrage and disbelief across Europe and around the world, the existence and integrity of the beautifully preserved Roman site – that attracts more than a million tourists annually – is now in jeopardy as modern industrial practices slam headlong into ancient history. Here's how the UK's Guardian newspaper covered this stunning story last ...

Caving In To Fackers: Feds Move to Dismiss NY Lawsuit Aimed at Protecting the Drinking Water of 15 Million Americans

admin — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 12:23:38 +0000

In a brazen pro-industry legal maneuver, the U.S. government has obtained permission from a federal judge to move to dismiss a lawsuit in New York that represents the last line of defense in protecting the drinking water of 15 million Americans. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman filed a lawsuit against federal regulators on May 31 seeking a thorough examination of the negative impacts of hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," on drinking-water supplies in the Delaware River Basin (see link to my previous post below). Apparently, the feds believe it's overkill to conduct a complete environmental impact review on an industrial process that has been tied to drinking-water contamination, exploding wells, hundreds of millions of gallons of radioactive wastewater and earthquakes. Did I mention that the safety of the drinking water of millions of Americans hangs in the balance? As you likely know by now, fracking is a process that extracts natural gas from shale rock formations deep beneath the earth's surface. Frackers inject highly pressurized fluid – water, sand and a mixture of toxic chemicals – into the ground to create cracks and fissures in shale formations thereby releasing the oil and gas contained inside. Fracking chemicals – along with naturally occurring ...

Earthquake Outbreak: Arkansas Bans Fracking Operations Inside Thousand-Square-Mile Area

admin — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 12:22:48 +0000

As if radioactive wastewater, exploding wells and flammable tap water weren't bad enough, fracking has now been tied to another environmental threat – earthquakes, thousands of them. Geologists have tied fracking wastewater disposal wells in central Arkansas to an outbreak of more than 1,200 so-called "minor earthquakes" (an oxymoron if ever there was one). At least one startled resident is suing the responsible gas companies for the significant damage one of those earthquakes caused to his home. The good news is common sense has prevailed in Arkansas. According to the Democrat-Gazette, the state's Oil and Gas Commission has voted to ban fracking wastewater disposal wells within a 1,150-square-mile area north of Conway in the Fayetteville Shale region. According to the Arkansas Geological Survey (AGS), the fracking operations were taking place on top of an active fault line. So much for environmental impact studies. Before the ban was instituted, a months-long moratorium had been in place while geologists determined whether the fracking operations – conducted by BHP Billiton Petroleum, Chesapeake Operating and Clarita Operating – were indeed causing the tremors. AGS official Scott Ausbrooks reports that a lattice of subsurface cracks and fissures provided passageways for the fracking fluids to reach the fault and ...

The Holy Grail: Drinking-water Contamination Confirmed in EPA Report Threatens U.S. Fracking Operations

admin — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 12:02:59 +0000

Considering all the money oil and gas companies pay their PR strategists and crisis management gurus, industry officials should have known better than to proclaim with absolute certainty that "fracking," the controversial natural gas extraction process, not only has not, but cannot, contaminate drinking-water supplies. They should have known to leave a little wiggle room should an "issue" arise. But their position has been unequivocal: Can't happen – nowhere, no how, no way. Well, for lack of a more cerebral retort – way! Before we wade into exactly why frackers across the country are in full retreat, let's review for a moment. As I have mentioned in previous blog posts (but it bears repeating), hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," an ultra-aggressive industrial process in which huge amounts of water, sand and a mixture of toxic chemicals are injected deep into the ground under extremely high pressure to create cracks and fissures in shale formations and thereby release the natural gas and oil trapped inside. Although frackers have tried to keep secret the specific chemicals used in the process, scientists have identified a smorgasbord of toxins in "fracking fluid," including known human carcinogens and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) like benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene. Those ...

With the Drinking Water of 15 Million Americans at Stake, Feds Side with Frackers

admin — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 13:50:00 +0000

Just in case there's anybody out there who still thinks our federal government has a shred of integrity following the debt-ceiling debacle, news from the fracking front will quickly disabuse any remaining die-hards of that notion. Rather than exercising their power to stop the oil and gas industry from continuing its feast at the fracking trough, the feds have entered the fray on the side of their industrial "partner" – at the expense of citizens and the environment. According to an Aug. 2 Bloomberg report, the U.S. government plans to seek dismissal of a New York lawsuit that would require a comprehensive environmental review of the impact of fracking on the drinking water in New York State. As you've probably heard by now, hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," is the highly dubious process in which massive amounts of fluid – water, sand and a witch's brew of toxic chemicals – are injected into the ground under high pressure to extract natural gas from shale at a faster rate than conventional drilling methods. The toxic chemicals, including carcinogenic benzene, as well as natural occurring radioactive material, like radium, can make their way into rivers, aquifers and drinking-water wells. From Bloomberg: New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman ...

Distorting the Facts: Oil and Gas Industry Pays Penn State $100,000 for Pro-Fracking Study

admin — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 13:52:12 +0000

We're all aware that money talks, but the degree to which pro-industry interests are distorting public information on fracking was in particularly high relief this week as natural gas companies are in no-holds-barred pursuit of billions in potential profits. Hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking" as it's more commonly called, injects large volumes of pressurized water, sand and highly toxic chemicals, such as carcinogenic benzene, deep into the ground to break up shale formations and release the natural gas inside. Fracking is known to contaminate water supplies as chemicals and radioactive material from the controversial practice find their way into aquifers, rivers and residential drinking-water wells. A recent editorial from the New York Post, titled "Frack, baby, frack," (see link below) lauds New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proposed regulations to permit fracking in New York, claiming that a new Penn State study has proven the overwhelming economic benefits. This certainly isn't the first time the conservative NY Post – owned by scandal-weary media mogul Rupert Murdoch – has shamelessly embraced pro-industry positions, but I find the disregard for basic fact-checking and lack of journalistic integrity particularly egregious in this case. From the editorial: The [new Penn State] study says Pennsylvania, which allows the process (also known ...

Toxic-Free Zone: One City’s Approach to Protecting Residents from Fracking

admin — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 15:50:43 +0000

As New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) prepares to lift a ban that would re-open the Empire State to the controversial natural gas drilling process known as "fracking," one upstate city is taking a unique approach to protecting its residents from the dangers posed by one of the fastest-growing sectors of the energy industry. The City Council in Auburn – located 20 miles west of Syracuse in the heart of the gas-rich Marcellus Shale region – is considering a resolution that would prohibit the city's wastewater treatment plant from accepting any "water produced as a by-product from natural gas drilling." So why is that a big deal for fracking communities like Auburn? It's all about how to dispose of billions of gallons of toxic, radioactive wastewater. The fracking process involves injecting massive volumes of water – mixed with sand and a witch's brew of toxic chemicals – deep into the ground to break up rock formations (i.e., shale) and release natural gas. That flood of water eventually returns to the earth's surface as a waste stream and must be disposed of by drilling companies. But where, if not local treatment plants? New York Times reporter Ian Urbina offers some additional context: With hydrofracking, ...

The Fracking Wars: New York’s Legendary Tap Water in the Cross Hairs

admin — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 13:33:51 +0000

New York's tap water is legendary. It's envied around the world for its purity, taste and abundance. Every week, billions of gallons of fresh, clean water are delivered from large pristine upstate reservoirs to the taps of millions of people across the state. But now there are plans afoot that could turn New York's award-winning water into a cautionary tale. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) bowed to political pressure last week, lifting a statewide ban on the controversial natural-gas extraction process known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. In so doing, the first-year governor, and former state attorney general, opens the Empire State to one of the most explosive and lucrative sectors of the energy industry – natural gas drilling (or fracking). But many, including myself, believe Cuomo is making a deal with the devil, pointing to the fact that fracking has been tied to an array of alarming environmental and human health risks, including severe drinking water contamination. As many of you know by now, fracking involves injecting large volumes of water – mixed with sand and a brew of toxic chemicals – deep into the ground under extremely high pressure. The pressurized fluid breaks up shale formations and releases natural ...

Pro-Fracking Arguments Fail to Grasp One Inconvenient Issue –– the Reality on the Ground

admin — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 15:02:59 +0000

The Wall Street Journal – owned by conservative gadfly Rupert Murdoch – ran an opinion piece over the weekend that showcases the untruths, convenient omissions and wildly unscientific cause-and-effect connections that are part and parcel of any pro-fracking argument. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is an aggressive (even by today's rough-and-tumble standards) and highly controversial extraction process that involves injecting large volumes of water – mixed with sand and a brew of toxic chemicals – deep into the ground under extremely high pressure. The pressurized fluid breaks up rock formations (usually shale) and releases natural gas and oil for drilling companies to speed to market. The stakes are high as boosters and critics face off over the familiar balancing act between industrial "progress" and safety and environmental risks. On one side, we have the "irrational exuberance" that comes with billions in potential profits, and on the other, the uninterrupted supply of safe drinking water to millions of Americans in communities across the country. It's hard to know exactly where to begin when taking the WSJ piece to task for perpetuating and lending credibility to what are now considered standard industry talking points – but I'll do my best. For starters, the poorly titled WSJ ...

Preemptive Strike: Fracking Opponents Look to Ban the Practice Before It Starts

admin — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 10:08:54 +0000

The arc of the quintessential fracking battle is still taking shape, but it's beginning to look like a recurring feature in the storyline may be the "ban" – a word drilling companies are loathe to even speak. We see that scene playing out in New Jersey where legislators, enviros and up-in-arms citizens are putting heat on Governor Chris Christie and the Delaware River Basin Commission to ban the controversial extraction process of hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," until impacts on the environment and human health can be fully assessed. The "ready, fire, aim" approach embraced by frackers and their supporters in government is becoming an increasingly heated point of contention among opponents of a practice that has been known to produce a range of volatile environmental impacts, including flammable tap water and exploding drinking-water wells. Most level-headed folks would agree that it makes sense to conduct a full environmental impact assessment before – not after – subjecting a region and its residents to an aggressive, "no holds barred" industrial practice like fracking. At issue is the rapidly expanding use of an extraction process first used by Halliburton (which should tell us something) in the late-1940s. Fracking extracts oil and natural gas from deep ...

Protecting 9 Million New Yorkers from the Dangers of Fracking

admin — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 23:38:37 +0000

New York's attorney general has taken the first step in turning back Exxon Mobil's plan to use "fracking" on up to 18,000 gas wells in New York City's watershed – an application of the highly controversial extraction process that would affect 9 million water-drinkers in New York and cost the state billions in beefed up water-filtering measures. For those of you who've been living under a rock, hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is an extraction process that involves injecting fluid – water, sand and a mixture of toxic chemicals – under extremely high pressure into rock formations to break them apart and release the oil and natural gas contained in them. Growing numbers of landowners, environmental groups, public officials and concerned citizens say fracking contaminates drinking-water supplies – and scientific studies back those claims. Concerns have reached fever pitch with France last month banning the fracking process nationwide. According to a May 31 Bloomberg News article, New York AG Eric Schneiderman filed a complaint yesterday in federal court in Brooklyn to stop regulations that would allow hydraulic fracturing in thousands of gas wells in the Marcellus Shale region of the Delaware River Basin. The basin covers nearly 60 percent of the land comprising ...

My Water’s On Fire Tonight (The Fracking Song)

admin — Fri, 13 May 2011 14:41:58 +0000

Here's a musical take on the dangers of Fracking:

New Study Links Drinking Water Contamination to Fracking: Can Proponents Still Keep a Straight Face?

admin — Wed, 11 May 2011 23:01:38 +0000

It just got much more difficult for frackers and their supporters to keep a straight face in the sizzling national debate over whether the benefits of hydraulic fracturing outweigh the dangers. The pro-fracking folk have argued – with increased hot air of late – that the swelling ranks of concerned citizens, enviros and wary public officials are making much ado about nothing when it comes to the controversial natural gas extraction process. Fracking proponents have tended to use arguments that center on jobs and economic revitalization, staying out of the weeds on matters of science. And with good reason, since one of the industry's most powerful claims – that natural gas burns cleaner than other fossil fuels – was recently debunked by a Cornell University study (see link below to my previous post "Global Warming Threat: New Studies Suggest Natural Gas Is Dirtier than Coal"). We've also heard a lot of blustering about fracking as the silver bullet to free us from our dependence on foreign oil. Hitting the right nationalistic tones, we hear industry boosters saying nonsensical things like: “If you are opposed to natural gas drilling, you're in favor of foreign oil.” How's that for a non-sequitur? Fracking has been ...

Frackers Take Aim at Louisiana’s Tuscaloosa Marine Shale

admin — Tue, 03 May 2011 14:00:50 +0000

The fracking battle – being fought with growing ferocity in communities across the country – has arrived in my home state of Louisiana. According to the Associated Press, Devon Energy, a natural gas drilling company based in Oklahoma City, has taken aim at northern Louisiana's Tuscaloosa Marine Shale near Ethel in East Feliciana Parish. Devon has submitted a proposal to state officials that "marks the start of what is expected to be intensive fracking in the shale." Hydraulic fracturing – a highly controversial natural gas extraction process – has been at the heart of the energy debate for months with concerned citizens and enviros facing off against drilling companies determined to speed product to market at any cost. And the cost, according to the growing number of fracking opponents, is severe air and water contamination, including radioactive pollutants and other known human carcinogens. Fracking occurs when drillers pump a mixture of water and chemicals – many of which, as mentioned, are carcinogenic – into the earth under extremely high pressure to break up the shale and release natural gas. Now the fracking fight has come to Ethel, about 25 miles due north of Baton Rouge. From the AP article: Madhurendu Kumar, director of the ...

State might sue feds over fracking study

admin — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 17:51:51 +0000

New York state will sue the federal agency regulating gas drilling in the Delaware River corridor if it doesn't commit to a full environmental impact study of its proposed regulations within 30 days, state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said. Such a study of the impact of more than 15,000 wells that could be drilled along the Delaware could take years and thus delay drilling for at least that long. The agency that's the target of Schneiderman's lawsuit, the Delaware River Basin Commission, has said its regulations could be ready by the end of summer. Those regulations primarily apply to the controversial horizontal drilling method of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which critics say can pollute water. "Both the law and common sense dictate that the federal government must fully assess the impact of its actions before opening the door to gas fracking in New York," said Schneiderman. "New Yorkers are correctly concerned about fracking's potential dangers to their environment, health and communities, and I will use the full authority of my office, including aggressive legal action, to ensure the federal government is forced to address those concerns," he said. A cumulative impact study of more than 15,000 wells in the basin was a key demand of anti-drillers ...

Recipe for Disaster: Fracking Fluids Exposed

admin — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 22:23:03 +0000

Congressional Democrats just landed a knockout blow to the pro-fracking argument that the chemicals drilling companies inject into natural gas wells simply aren't that bad – and don't pose any real environmental threat. A new congressional report is out that exposes some of the frackers' best-kept secrets, and the revelations are devastating to an industry that is already reeling from increasingly bitter opposition. New York Times reporter Ian Urbina, who has been closely covering the fracking issue for months, sums up the latest bombshell: “...oil and gas companies injected hundreds of millions of gallons of hazardous or carcinogenic chemicals into wells in more than 13 states from 2005 to 2009, according to an investigation by Congressional Democrats.” Both the volume of the fluid used and the number and nature of the chemicals contained in it come as a shock to even the most well-seasoned fracking opponents. According to the report: “...many ingredients were 'extremely toxic,' including benzene, a known human carcinogen, and lead...companies injected large amounts of other hazardous chemicals, including 11.4 million gallons of fluids containing at least one of the toxic or carcinogenic B.T.E.X. chemicals – benzene, toluene, xylene and ethylbenzene. The companies used the highest volume of fluids containing ...

Chemicals Were Injected Into Wells, Report Says

admin — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 10:30:53 +0000

WASHINGTON — Oil and gas companies injected hundreds of millions of gallons of hazardous or carcinogenic chemicals into wells in more than 13 states from 2005 to 2009, according to an investigation by Congressional Democrats. The chemicals were used by companies during a drilling process known as hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracking, which involves the high-pressure injection of a mixture of water, sand and chemical additives into rock formations deep underground. The process, which is being used to tap into large reserves of natural gas around the country, opens fissures in the rock to stimulate the release of oil and gas. Hydrofracking has attracted increased scrutiny from lawmakers and environmentalists in part because of fears that the chemicals used during the process can contaminate underground sources of drinking water. “Questions about the safety of hydraulic fracturing persist, which are compounded by the secrecy surrounding the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing fluids,” said the report, which was written by Representatives Henry A. Waxman of California, Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts and Diana DeGette of Colorado. The report, released late Saturday, also faulted companies for at times “injecting fluids containing chemicals that they themselves cannot identify.” The inquiry over hydrofracking, which was initiated by the House Energy and ...

Democratic report: carcinogens injected into wells

admin — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 13:42:32 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) – Millions of gallons of potentially hazardous chemicals and known carcinogens were injected into wells by leading oil and gas service companies from 2005-2009, a report by three House Democrats said Saturday. The report said 29 of the chemicals injected were known-or-suspected human carcinogens. They either were regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act as risks to human health or listed as hazardous air pollutants under the Clean Air Act. Methanol was the most widely used chemical. The substance is a hazardous air pollutant and is on the candidate list for potential regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The report was issued by Reps. Henry Waxman of California, Edward Markey of Massachusetts and Diana DeGette of Colorado. The chemicals are injected during hydraulic fracturing, a process used in combination with horizontal drilling to allow access to natural gas reserves previously considered uneconomical. The growing use of hydraulic fracturing has allowed natural gas production in the United States to reach levels not achieved since the early 1970s. However, the process requires large quantities of water and fluids, injected underground at high volumes and pressure. The composition of these fluids ranges from a simple mixture of water and sand to more complex mixtures with chemical ...

New York and Texas Define the “Fracking Battleground” as the Political Campaign Season Heats Up

admin — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 16:18:49 +0000

Two of the largest, most powerful electoral states have become the fiercest fracking battlegrounds in the nation – with a major citizen group in Texas demanding that industry regulators turn from “lapdogs” to “watchdogs” and a top New York state official warning that new highly anticipated fracking regulations could take the entire summer to draft. Neither development is good news for the beleaguered natural gas drilling industry that, until only months ago, pretty much had carte blanche to run roughshod over the environment. The stage is now set for a bitter regulatory fight just as the political campaign season begins gearing up for 2012 elections. In New York, according to the Associated Press, the “…[head of the state Department of Environmental Conservation] Joe Martens said DEC staff will meet twice each week starting in early April and through the summer to complete a new environmental impact statement for gas drilling that addresses issues raised in the 13,000 comments received on the 809-page first draft completed in September 2009.” That has big implications because natural gas drillers want New York to immediately end its moratorium on fracking in the Marcellus Shale region. The state has been “in review” mode since 2008, and now environmental ...

New Jersey wants to get tough on fracking

admin — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 10:59:48 +0000

TRENTON, NJ – New Jersey is concerned about the impacts of natural gas development projects in neighboring states and is seeking tough regulations to project the water resources in the Delaware River Basin from potential contamination from hydraulic fracturing operations. New Jersey DEP Commissioner Bob Martin outlined the state's requirements in formal comments to the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC). Among them, the state wants a strict limit on the initial number of production wells to be drilled and wants the approval of well pads to be done in stages. The regulations would allow no more than 30 production well pads, not to exceed 300 production wells in total, in the two years immediately following adoption of the rules. At that point, the DRBC would conduct a study to assess the impact of the initial wells and the effectiveness of its regulations before any further drilling could occur. Regarding fracking wastewater, New Jersey said it will not agree to any fracking discharges until it can be proven they're not harmful to water quality. Otherwise, the state would require proper management and disposal of fracking waste material. Regarding water resources, New Jersey would require that use of Basin water for extraction activities be sustainable and ...

Fracking fears

admin — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 10:13:20 +0000

Several states — notably Pennsylvania, New York, and Arkansas — are having big problems with a method of drilling for natural gas called hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.” Their experiences provide more reasons that Ohio should abandon plans to permit oil and gas drilling on public lands. Consequences of fracking and horizontal drilling include earthquakes, groundwater contamination, and lax government regulation. Some states are suspending shale-drilling projects until they can review the range of potential risks to public health. Officials in Arkansas linked a recent spate of tremors to fracking. Injecting large amounts of water that includes toxic chemicals into compacted layers of shale to break it up and release natural gas just begins the possible risks. In Arkansas, drillers disposed of wastewater in injection wells, pumping salt water into the ground. Geologists suspect that practice led to significantly higher seismic activity near the wells. A cessation of drilling appears to have stabilized conditions. Gallons of water contaminated by the drilling process flow back to the surface. The water is full of pollutants that, in Pennsylvania, caused leaks and spills of toxic fluids. They could seep into aquifers and spoil them for years. Pennsylvania’s problems were compounded by a failure to monitor fracking adequately. New York ...

N.Y. drilling regs may take all summer

admin — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 13:33:28 +0000

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) – The new head of New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation believes that gas drilling in the massive Marcellus Shale formation is the most daunting environmental issue the agency has faced in its 40-year history, and he’s hopeful rules will soon be in place to address the potential impact. In an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday, Joe Martens said DEC staff will meet twice each week starting in early April and through the summer to complete a new environmental impact statement for gas drilling that addresses issues raised in the 13,000 comments received on the 809-page first draft completed in September 2009. New York has had a moratorium on gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale since 2008 while the new rules are being developed for high-volume hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” which injects millions of gallons of chemical-laced water into shale thousands of feet underground to create cracks that release natural gas. Environmental groups and others who fear fracking will contaminate drinking water supplies have implored DEC to hold off on permitting Marcellus drilling until the Environmental Protection Agency completes a review of the technology. Before being appointed DEC commissioner, Martens was head of the land-preservation group Open Space Institute ...

In Support of a Moratorium: Unprecedented Public Opposition to Fracking in the Delaware River Basin

admin — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 12:05:47 +0000

How organized is the anti-fracking movement getting? Well, this week, activists delivered 30,000 public comments to regulators, all in opposition to the controversial natural-gas extraction process. The unprecedented display of anti-fracking resolve comes as the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) considers extending its watershed-wide drilling moratorium – not bad for an issue that was virtually absent from the national agenda only months ago. The Associated Press is calling the unexpectedly high volume of public comments “a record” and said the feedback comes “...from residents of New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware who oppose 'fracking,' a technique in which water, sand and toxic chemicals are injected to break up shale and release natural gas.” As is the case in other areas of the country where locals realize that the federal government – in its regulatory recklessness – has given the fracking industry free reign, the DRBC imposed a moratorium on drilling in its part of the massive Marcellus Shale formation. The idea was to buy enough time to consider environmental issues and draft permanent regulations. The AP story also notes that two enviro groups have sued to stop work on exploratory wells that were allowed to proceed despite the moratorium. That suit is ...

Texas Oil & Gas Accountability Project seeks more drilling oversight

admin — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 11:25:27 +0000

The Texas Oil & Gas Accountability Project issued a report Thursday calling for the Environmental Protection Agency to oversee regulation of air emissions from oil and natural gas exploration and production equipment in the state. In the meantime, the report said, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality "must significantly step up its currently inadequate efforts to protect public health by strictly enforcing emission limits from oil and gas exploration and production equipment." The group said the Texas Railroad Commission, the chief regulator of the state's oil and gas industry, has been its "lapdog" but "must become a watchdog." The commission "must adopt rules that provide the public with full disclosure of oil and gas drilling and fracking fluids," the group said, in reference to chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing. Hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," pumps large volumes of water and sand, along with a smaller volume of chemical additives, underground under high pressure to create fractures in dense rock formations and allow trapped oil and gas to flow into a wellbore. To protect surface and groundwater resources from oil and gas contamination, the commission "must implement rules requiring closed-loop drilling systems and water-based drilling fluids," the group said. The report, issued in conjunction with the ...

Casey: Voluntary fracking chemical registry ‘not enough’

admin — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 12:45:54 +0000

The release of a national online registry of hydraulic fracturing chemicals this week has received qualified praise but has not stemmed calls for more disclosure about the natural gas extraction process. Fracfocus.org went live on Monday with 24 participating companies, including many natural gas operators active in Pennsylvania. The voluntary registry was developed by the Ground Water Protection Council and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission and includes information on toxic chemicals gathered from materials safety sheets. It does not include proprietary or trade secret information. As of Wednesday, the chemicals used to fracture 30 wells in Pennsylvania had been posted online by three companies: Chesapeake Energy, Seneca Resources and EQT Production. Kathryn Klaber, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, an industry group, said in a statement that the new site "is a critical tool, and represents a positive step toward further heightening transparency," one of the organization's goals. "This online database should also bring closure to the question of what and how many additives are used in the fracturing process," she said. But critics say the voluntary registry does not answer those questions. Lesser-known chemicals are often not included on the materials safety sheets, whether or not they are toxic, and so will not ...

Shale gas is not a credible ‘new green message’

admin — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 14:10:57 +0000

It's confusing as to how shale gas extraction offers the oil industry "a new green message", as it was suggested last week in an interview with Shell's outgoing chairman. Look a little closer at shale gas and it comes with all the type of problems we're coming to expect from extracting unconventional hydrocarbons. Now that we've got much of the easy stuff out of the ground, it's all getting a bit more complicated, leading to the use of new technologies to get to previously inaccessible reserves, and in so doing, creating new environmental problems we hadn't previously envisaged. Tar sands developments in Alberta, Canada, are the obvious case in point. With shale gas, the technology involved is called hydraulic fracturing – "fracking" for short. This involves blasting a solution of water, sand and various chemicals into the shale bed, two to three kilometres below ground, to fracture the rock and mobilise the gas. In order to get to the shale formation, operations have to drill through the aquifer, creating the potential for contamination; either from chemicals used in the process or those that are activated during fracking. In the US, where the industry is more developed, accusations of groundwater contamination abound. If ...