Today’s essential reads
FRACKING:
Pennsylvania Natgas Well Has Blowout During Fracking
A natural gas well was spilling thousands of gallons of fracking fluid water in Pennsyvlania on Wednesday after a blowout during the process of fracturing the bedrock, state and local regulators said.
Natural Gas Prices Could Be Artificially Low
Paul Studebaker, CMRP, editorial director, says let’s not get hooked on cheap natural gas.
BP OIL SPILL:
3,200 Gulf Wells Unplugged, Unprotected
More than 3,200 oil and gas wells classified as active lie abandoned beneath the Gulf of Mexico, with no cement plugging to help prevent leaks that could threaten the same waters fouled by last year’s BP spill, The Associated Press has learned.
Oil Still Oozing Along Coastline Amid Dying Marsh Grasses
The state’s struggle to deal with the remains of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill can be seen in miniature in a broken stand of roseau cane in Pass a Loutre Wildlife Management Area, Wildlife & Fisheries Secretary Robert Barham said Tuesday morning. When Barham scooped up a handful of earth, what oozed from between his fingers was a mixture of soil and oil.
Scientists: Just Because Beaches are Clean Doesn’t Mean They’re Oil-Free
A BP representative has said that oiled sand was removed, sifted, and put back on the beach last summer. A federal report released by independent scientists in February said the clean-up was a success and University of South Florida scientists reported the same. But we learned clean does not mean oil-free.
Enviro Report Card Details Failures One Year After BP Oil Spill
One year has passed since the catastrophic BP oil spill began. Today, record numbers of dead sea turtles and dolphins are still washing up dead on Gulf beaches, oil is still getting hauled up in nets by fishermen, and offshore oil drilling in the Gulf has resumed without any new laws to prevent a duplicate catastrophe or ensure that the Gulf will be fully restored.
1 Year After the BP Oil Spill Disaster: A Day of Remembrance Dawns on the Gulf Coast
Relatives of the 11 men who died aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig are flying over the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, back to the epicenter of the worst offshore oil spill in the nation’s history.
Oil Spill Victim Threatens To Kill Everyone Inside BP Claims Office (VIDEO)
An oil spill victim police who police said had his claim denied threatened to kill everyone inside a local claims office. Police aren’t releasing the man’s name because he’s now in custody at a psychiatric hospital, but say the man threatened to kill himself, then open fire at a Gulf Coast Claims Facility.
One year later, Allen says offshore drilling will never be ‘risk-free’
Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the public face of the Obama administration’s response to last year’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill, said policymakers will never be able to completely reduce the risk of another major drilling accident.
JAPAN NUCLEAR CRISIS:
Radiation From Japan Found In US Cities Air, Drinking Water And Milk
Radiation from Japan has been detected in drinking water in 13 more American cities, and cesium-137 has been found in American milk—in Montpelier, Vermont—for the first time since the Japan nuclear disaster began, according to data released by the Environmental Protection Agency late Friday.
