The North Dakota Oil Fracking Boom Creates Clash of Money and Devastation
NEW TOWN N.D. –When the black gold rush began, no one on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation expected it to take down Main Street.
Sierra Club warns of fracking risk
U.S. advocacy groups said they replicated an EPA study that determined fracking chemicals from natural gas drilling were present in Wyoming water samples. The Sierra Club, Earthworks and the Natural Resources Defense Council said they confirmed, with the help of an independent expert, that an EPA study in Wyoming highlighted the risks associated with hydraulic fracturing.
Energy Company Plans to Frack a Volcano
With reports only recently confirming that fracking is not, as long as its properly regulated, the earthquake-generating terror we thought it was, a U.S. geothermal company has decided it’s a great idea to extract clean energy from a dormant volcano by hydrofracking its hot underbelly to generate steam
Judge Rejects Binghamton’s Fracking Ban
A court has struck down a moratorium on natural gas drilling in Binghamton, N.Y., yet both sides are claiming victory.
A New Weapon in the Fight against Fracking
Reading about the ravages of gas drilling, or fracking, often leaves people feeling despair, helpless to act to protect themselves, their kids, or their community. So before this blog jumps into another aspect of the drilling process, I want to begin on a positive: Across the nation, communities are getting active and taking actions that are successfully protecting them from fracking. For example, in the Delaware River basin, tens of thousands joined forces and secured a moratorium on drilling that has held for more than two years; in New Jersey, legislators are passing legislation to keep drilling waste and fracking out of that state; in New York, citizen action seems to have sent a strong message to the Governor that he needs to rethink his plan to open up that state to drilling; and in Pennsylvania, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network and seven townships joined forces in a legal action that struck down Pennsylvania’s pro-drilling legislation, called Act 13.
New Interstate Gas Pipeline Fuels Debate Over Safety and Fracking
The first interstate natural gas pipeline to come to New York City in 40 years will deliver gas extracted, in part, from the Marcellus Shale rock formations using the controversial drilling process known as hydraulic fracturing. The 15.2 miles of new pipeline construction will end at the edge of Manhattan’s West Side, in the Meatpacking District, where it will connect to a new underground Consolidated Edison vault and be distributed through the utility’s system. But the pipeline, known as the New Jersey-New York Expansion Project, has attracted a series of protests, legal challenges and concern along its proposed route.
The New “Golden Age of Oil” That Wasn’t
Last winter, fossil-fuel enthusiasts began trumpeting the dawn of a new “golden age of oil” that would kick-start the American economy, generate millions of new jobs, and free this country from its dependence on imported petroleum. Ed Morse, head commodities analyst at Citibank, was typical. In the Wall Street Journal he crowed, “The United States has become the fastest-growing oil and gas producer in the world, and is likely to remain so for the rest of this decade and into the 2020s.”
Anti fracking health experts question in-house health study
A group of public health experts are questioning whether New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s health officials can do a credible job reviewing a health study on fracking, saying independent reviewers would be a better choice.
Is Fracking behind Contamination in Wyoming Groundwater?
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sparked a firestorm in December last year when it released a draft report suggesting that the use of hydraulic fracturing — or ‘fracking’ — to extract natural gas had contaminated groundwater near Pavillion, Wyoming. Industry officials have long denied that fracking affects groundwater, and Pavillion has become the first high-profile test of this claim. On 26 September, the US Geological Survey (USGS) released data showing the presence of groundwater contamination in the region. Although the data would seem to support the EPA’s assessment — as does an independent analysis released by environmental groups this week — the survey did not seek to determine the source of the contamination. Nature examines the on-going debate and how it relates to broader questions about groundwater contamination from fracking across the United States.
BP Macondo Well oil possibly from Gulf fissures or sea cracks, coverup continues
The U.S. Coast Guard is investigating an oily sheen in the Gulf of Mexico spotted last month near the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill site at Macondo Well 40 miles south of the Mississippi River, a spokesman said Wednesday, revealing a little more of the fossil fuel catastrophe and subsequent coverup.
Spill reported from oil platform in Gulf
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Coast Guard says an estimated 76 gallons of crude oil spilled from an oil platform operated by Apache Corp. off the coast of southeast Louisiana.
Shell Oil begins exploratory drilling in Alaska’s Beaufort Sea
Shell Oil is now drilling wells in two Arctic seas off Alaska’s northern coast. Drilling began Wednesday afternoon in the Beaufort Sea after the end of an Inupiat whale hunt, according to Curtis Smith, spokesman for Shell Alaska.
Brooklyn oil spill in Paerdegat Basin may contain dangerous chemicals
OIL from the pipeline that poured as much as 1,400 gallons into the Paerdegat Basin last week has tested positive for cancer-causing chemical PCB.
Brooklyn oil spill in Paerdegat Basin worries locals
AN OIL SPILL that filled Paerdegat Basin with as much as 1,400 gallons of oil has locals worried about their surroundings.
Scarborough Marsh scene of spill drill
SCARBOROUGH, Maine —On Thursday, the state’s largest salt marsh was filled with oranges, but nothing to worry about, it was all part of a drill in the Scarborough marsh. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection, along with the U.S. Coast Guard and Scarborough Fire Department held a day-long oil spill drill on the Scarborough river.
The New “Golden Age of Oil” That Wasn’t
Last winter, fossil-fuel enthusiasts began trumpeting the dawn of a new “golden age of oil” that would kick-start the American economy, generate millions of new jobs, and free this country from its dependence on imported petroleum. Ed Morse, head commodities analyst at Citibank, was typical. In the Wall Street Journal he crowed, “The United States has become the fastest-growing oil and gas producer in the world, and is likely to remain so for the rest of this decade and into the 2020s.”
New flyover footage shows road dissolving into giant Louisiana sinkhole
As Assumption Parish officials reported Thursday that they still await results from more testing since the sinkhole cavern entry, new Louisiana State Police helicopter flyover footage shows that the nearby grass road is dissolving into the giant Bayou Corne slurry hole that has now consumed 4 acres.
Drilling to remove gas near sinkhole
Drilling to locate and remove any natural gas found inside a shallow aquifer underneath the Bayou Corne area could begin as soon as this weekend, Louisiana Department of Natural Resources officials said Thursday.
