Earth Day News Round Up: April 22, 2011

E

Today’s essential reads.

FRACKING:

Inhofe Claims Fracking Has ‘Never’ Contaminated Water Supply One Day After Spill Contaminates Stream

While fracking has the potential to create vast new American energy supplies, Inhofe’s claim that it is completely without risk is either stunningly ignorant or intentionally dishonest. Just yesterday, a blowout at a Pennsylvania natural gas well engaged in fracking spilled thousands of gallons of toxic chemical-laced water, “contaminating a stream and forcing the evacuation of seven families who live nearby as crews struggled to stop the gusher,” the AP reported.

Are Arkansas’ Natural Gas Injection Wells Causing Earthquakes?

Hundreds of small and medium-scale earthquakes have been rattling the area around Guy, Ark., and residents say wastewater injection wells being drilled in their area are to blame.

BP OIL SPILL:

Where’s the Oil? BP Disaster One Year Later

Today is Earth Day. All across the country, people will be spending the weekend celebrating Mother Earth with festivals, tree-planting ceremonies or simply trying to be a bit ‘greener’ by turning off a light, recycling a bottle or using less water. Ironically, for folks living on the Gulf coast, the third week of April marks a decidedly ‘ungreen’ anniversary – it has now been one year since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, heralding the biggest oil spill in history and the beginning of one very long summer.

BP Oil Spill One Year Later: Rep. Woolsey Says ‘Zero’ Done To Prevent Another Incident

Despite calls from Washington and beyond to guarantee that another BP-style oil spill will not happen again, Congress has done “zero” on the issue in the year since the tragic events in the Gulf of Mexico, a leading House Democrat told us on ABC’s “Top Line” today.

Technology Failures, Perils of Deepwater Drilling Among Gulf Oil Spill’s Lessons VIDEO

More than 200 million gallons of oil leaked into the Gulf, as engineers raced to plug the well. The disaster also raised many questions about deepwater drilling for the future. Joel Achenbach has reported extensively on all this for The Washington Post. He is the author of a new book chronicling this, “A Hole at the Bottom of the Sea.” He joins us now.

BP Oil Spill A Year Later – Mostly Forgotten

One year ago the supposedly impossible happened. A modern, well-equipped deepwater rig blew up, killing 11 workers and spilling 5 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, where nearly all of it remains.

Day of Remembrance: 1 Year After Gulf Oil Disaster

Relatives flew over Gulf of Mexico waters on Wednesday where 11 oil rig workers died a year ago, residents gathered in quiet prayer vigils onshore and President Barack Obama vowed to hold BP and others accountable for “the painful losses that they’ve caused.”

Oil, Worries Linger Along Coast

A somber twilight ceremony was held on the Grand Isle beach Wednesday, a reminder of the 11 lives lost in last year’s Deepwater Horizon explosion.

JAPAN NUCLEAR CRISIS:

Radioactive Iodine Found in Breast Milk of Japanese Mothers

The breast milk of four Japanese mothers has been found to contain small quantities of radioactive iodine.

TEPCO: Fuel of the Fukushima Plant No. 1 Reactor Could Be Melting

Fuel of the Fukushima nuke plant’s No. 1 reactor could be melting, an official said on Wednesday at Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), the operator of the crippled plant.

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